Skip to content
Diego Miguel Garcia, 23, who was indicted for the murder of his girlfriend’s toddler last year was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.
According to court documents, at about 11 p.m., Phoenix fire crews had responded to an apartment near South Montezuma Street for reports of a 911 call about a half-year-old child with visible signs of trauma.
Crews transported him to Valleywise Health Medical Center for treatment and notified Phoenix police while en route to the hospital.
At the hospital, a doctor reported that the toddler had preliminary injuries to his head, lip and bruising to the left cheek, back and abdomen, as well as a contusion to the head causing a cranial bleed, court documents state.
The child was not expected to survive his injuries, later being pronounced dead the next morning on Feb. 2, 2023.
When officers arrived at the scene, they interviewed the child’s grandmother who had called 911.
The grandmother told officers that she had been watching him from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. earlier that day and that he did not have any visible injuries nor behaved “out of the ordinary.”
Court documents show that the child’s mother corroborated the grandmother’s story, saying the toddler was acting normal when she picked him up.
Child abuse and neglect:Prevention resources and where to get help
At about 5:30 p.m., the toddler’s mother left to go to work, leaving her child in the care of her live-in boyfriend, Garcia as well as Garcia’s 5-year-old child.
According to court documents, Garcia had been dating the toddler’s mother for about four to six weeks while living at the residence for nearly a month.
At 9 p.m., Diego called the toddler’s mother saying that the two kids had been playing when the toddler hit his head, causing his lip to bleed.
Court documents show that the boy’s mother returned to the home at about 10:30 p.m. to check on her son and found him asleep, with a cut on his lip, a bump on the head and unresponsive.
In an effort to wake the child, the mother put cold water on his face, but the child still did not respond.
She then took him to the grandmother’s house for help and asked her to call 911, court documents state.
According to court documents, Garcia had been the only adult watching the child during the time frame when the injuries had taken place and was interviewed at Phoenix police headquarters.
Garcia then told officers that the third time the toddler hit his head was when Garcia hit him on the back of the head while he was sitting on the floor, causing him to fall forward, cutting his lip.
Court documents state that Garcia had never been given permission to physically discipline the toddler, nor did he have any legal parental rights to him.
During questioning, documents say Garcia offered varying accounts of how the toddler was injured, with answers ranging from he ran into a door to he fell off of the couch. Medical staff however said such incidents wouldn’t cause the severe injuries the toddler suffered.
Garcia was ultimately arrested and booked into jail on first-degree murder and child abuse charges.
Court documents show Garcia wrote a letter to the judge in July 2023 demanding that he be appointed a new attorney, because the one he had refused his request to have a neuropsychologist evaluate him to see if a traumatic brain injury he suffered during a motorcycle accident in 2021 altered his personality and was the cause behind any alleged criminal behavior.
Audit shows:Arizona DPS short changed child abuse, sexual assault victim services
The judge did not appear to grant Garcia’s request.
Court documents prior to the sentencing offered various mitigating factors to Garcia’s case, such as having had a traumatic childhood that involved his dad attempting to take his own life and his mother neglecting him after the divorce while she pursued other romantic relationships.
Records show Garcia took a plea deal last month that reduced the homicide charge from first-degree murder to second-degree murder and dropped the child abuse charge. A judge on Wednesday sentenced Garcia to 25 years in prison with 637 days credited for the time he spent in jail.
Republic reporter Kye Graves contributed to this article.
