Oxnard Teens Must Stand Trial in Daughter’s Death

Ending an emotional 10-day hearing, two Oxnard teenagers were ordered Monday to stand trial for murder and felony child abuse for allegedly beating their 2-year-old daughter to death last year.

Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren ruled that evidence suggests Rogelio Hernandez, 18, punched or struck his daughter, Joselin, with a blunt object that ripped her intestine and slowly caused her death last June.

Although witnesses said they never saw mother Gabriela Hernandez, also 18, beat her child, Perren ruled that she also should stand trial for murder on the grounds that she knew her daughter was at risk and failed to protect her.

“I think she knew that her child was being abused by her husband,” Perren said.

In handing down his decision, the judge said he found the circumstances surrounding Joselin’s death particularly disturbing because so many people saw the signs of her repeated abuse yet failed to intervene.

“These crimes were committed while all the world was watching,” Perren said. “The family members were watching, the agencies of government were watching. . . . There was no secret that this child was in peril, which makes the case very troubling.”

As a 6-week-old infant, Joselin suffered a broken leg, cracked ribs and burns to her hands and feet. After weeks of hospitalization, she was taken away from her parents and placed in the care of her maternal grandmother.

However, Ventura County social workers returned Joselin to her parents after her grandmother died in a March car accident.

For the next three months, relatives, family friends, two social workers and a parenting aide noticed a series of injuries to the child. Gabriela and Rogelio Hernandez told them the various burns and cuts were accidental, according to court testimony.

Then, on June 22, Joselin died.

An autopsy revealed that the toddler was killed by blunt-force injuries to her abdomen that caused her intestine to rupture. The untreated injury gradually sent her into shock and cardiac arrest, a coroner’s official testified.

An expert in child abuse with the County/USC Medical Center testified Monday that Joselin was probably punched or kicked in the stomach area.

Prosecutors filed a series of charges against both parents, not all of which stuck when the preliminary examination concluded Monday afternoon.

Rogelio Hernandez was charged with murder and six counts of felony child abuse. He was ordered to stand trial on all but one, a charge alleging that he inflicted injuries to Joselin’s back that were discovered during the autopsy.

“This child died as a result of a discreet blow, and I think all the indicators are that that blow was inflicted by Rogelio,” Perren said during Monday’s proceedings.

The skinny, mustachioed father sat motionless as the judge made his remarks. He remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Gabriela Hernandez, who also showed little emotion during the ruling, was charged with the same seven offenses.

But she was bound over for trial on only three charges: murder, child abuse causing death and one felony child abuse charge.

During closing arguments, Gabriela Hernandez’s defense attorneys argued that she should not be ordered to stand trial on the charges--particularly murder--because she never struck Joselin.

Although witnesses testified to seeing Rogelio Hernandez hit Joselin in the face--and in one instance carry her across the family’s produce store by an arm--not one witness testified to seeing Gabriela Hernandez strike her little girl.

To the contrary, witnesses said, they often saw the young mother holding and showing affection to her child. They also testified to various times she took Joselin to see a doctor after the child suffered injuries.

“My client went to the doctors several times,” defense attorney William Maxwell argued. “She did the best she could, given her education and her status in life . . . and that is not murder.”

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona said Gabriela Hernandez had an obligation, legally and otherwise, to protect her child from a harmful spouse.

“The omission to act is the same as the act itself,” Corona argued, citing case law on the issue. “She was aware. She failed to protect.”

Corona added that the mother canceled scheduled visits with a parent aide and twice refused to let social workers see Joselin around the same time she suffered injuries.

After taking a break to review case law on the subject, Perren ruled in favor of the prosecution’s argument.

He did agree, however, to reduce Gabriela Hernandez’s bail from $500,000 to $100,000. Both parents are scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court on Jan. 20.

If prosecutors decide to specify the murder charges as first degree, Gabriela and Rogelio Hernandez could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.