Turlock man convicted of killing 2-month-old daughter faces life sentence
TURLOCK – The father of a 2-month-old girl who died in 2022 has been convicted of killing his child, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office said Joseph Rendon, 26, was convicted of murder and child abuse for the death of his 2-month-old daughter, Araceli.
Prosecutors said Joseph was watching Araceli on April 13, 2022, when he took her to the hospital, claiming that she stopped breathing after he fed her in the afternoon.
Araceli was pronounced dead at the hospital.
An autopsy later found she had multiple fractures to her skull and significant brain damage, prosecutors said. Araceli's cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.
Joseph was interviewed shortly after the autopsy findings. Prosecutors said he admitted to hitting Araceli's head against a metal object multiple times because she wouldn't stop crying.
He now faces life in prison and is expected to be sentenced on July 14.
