Parents left their baby girl in the care of their friends, but the “babysitter” betrayed their trust when the toddler didn’t tell him she needed to “use the toilet” and started hitting her on the head before lying about the circumstances leading to her death

According to reports, a couple who were entrusted with the care of their friends’ 2-year-old daughter have been jailed for a crime committed more than two years ago against the toddler, who treated them like a second set of parents. The 33-year-old man, identified as Juan, was sentenced to 39 years behind bars, while the 34-year-old woman, identified as Nancy, was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Several people addressed the court during the sentencing hearing, and they all mentioned that before the incident, the couple accused of the brutal death of 2-year-old Valerie cared for and treated the little girl as their own child. According to court documents, Juan and Nancy were initially charged with first- and second-degree felony murder and felony child abuse because one or both of them directly contributed to the child’s death, but available evidence led to pleas to lesser charges, and prosecutors decided to drop the original charge of felony murder and dismiss the counts of first and second degree child abuse.

The parents of Valeria took her to their friends’ home because they needed a favor—someone to look for their daughter for a few hours—not knowing that their friends would betray their trust in a horrible way. The investigation showed that Juan, who was alone with Valerie at the time of the incident, became angry with the girl when she did not inform him that he needed to use the toilet, wet the diaper, and poop came out on the chair at the table. He then hit her several times in the head, eventually killing her. Nancy then came home from work and knowingly helped her husband lie about the circumstances surrounding Valerie’s death and did not tell the truth to the officers.

The first responders were dispatched to the couple’s home after receiving a call. Emergency crews attempted life-saving measures and took the victim to a hospital, where she eventually succumbed to what were said to be non-accidental injuries. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as a traumatic brain injury and other internal injuries to the child’s body, indicating that the victim was hit several times not only on the head but also on the body.

The man, Juan, was sentenced to 29 years in prison after pleading Alford to a lesser charge of second-degree murder. For those unfamiliar with the term Alford plea, it means that the defendant does not explicitly admit guilt but instead admits that the state has enough evidence to convict them at trial, which is basically the same as pleading guilty for purposes of convicting and sentencing. The woman, Nancy, was sentenced to 8 years behind bars after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree child abuse. Since both convicts were arrested in 2021, both are credited with serving more than two years.