The mother, aunt and uncle of a 23-month-old Anaheim boy killed in 2007 were each sentenced Friday to 15-year prison terms for their roles in the toddler’s death.
The boy’s mother, Noel Lynn Hurtado, 30, along with Ilene Irene Hurtado, 31, and Timothy Hurtado, 23, all pleaded guilty Nov. 21 to child abuse and endangerment and admitted a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury, according to Assistant District Attorney Howard Gundy.
For technical reasons, Noel and Ilene had to enter new pleas of guilt to child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death and admit a sentencing enhancement for personally inflicting great bodily injury.
As part of the negotiated settlement, charges of murder and child assault causing death, which would have led to life sentences, were dropped, Gundy said.
The three received 12-year prison terms, but because the plea deal included waiving credit for 956 days in custody awaiting trial, it amounts to 15-year sentences, Gundy said.
The legal theory of the case was that Dartanian Hurtado fell victim to “death by a thousand cuts,” Gundy said when the defendants’ initial pleas were entered in November.
“Each of them had a hand in it, but no hand by itself caused the fatal injury,” Gundy said. “That was one of the problems with the case. The child died as a result of cumulative injuries.”
There was evidence the toddler was “abused over a substantial period of time,” the prosecutor said, adding, “We believe the fatal injuries occurred in a five- or six-day period just preceding death.”
Noel and Ilene Hurtado took the boy to Anaheim Memorial Hospital on Aug. 16, 2007, but he was already dead by the time physicians examined him, Gundy said.
An autopsy showed the tot died from swelling of the brain caused by the injuries to his head, he said.
Noel and Timothy Hurtado were arrested in November 2010, and the child’s mother was arrested the following month.
Timothy Hurtado was essentially “put in charge” of his nephew, but he was “singularly unequipped to handle a child,” nor was the boy’s mother, Gundy said.
— City News Service