A man who was charged with murder in the death of his live-in girlfriend’s 2-year-old son pleaded guilty Monday to seven lesser felony counts and is expected to be sentenced to more than 32 years in prison.
Samuel Aguilar, 24, entered his plea — as testimony was scheduled to begin in his trial — to three counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, two counts of child abuse and one count each of injuring a spouse or co- habitant and voluntary manslaughter.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 21.
The toddler’s mother, Jessica Cereceres, pleaded no contest May 4 to a pair of felony abuse counts. Cereceres, 26, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and ordered to stay away from her surviving child for 10 years.
Aguilar and Cereceres were charged in 2015 following a yearlong examination of reports and evidence involving injuries to her two children, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The 2-year-old, Josue, was pronounced dead at a hospital after Signal Hill police responded to a call that the toddler wasn’t breathing.
During the investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department discovered that the woman’s year-old son also had injuries to his body, prosecutors said.
Aguilar has been jailed since December 2014, when he was arrested for witness intimidation/dissuasion.
–City News Service