Dad gets 15 years to life for fatal beating of 4-year-old daughter (Provo, Utah)

We've posted on dad VICTOR GARDEA before, who has already pleaded guilty to 1st-degree felony murder in the beating death of his 4-month-old daughter. That was back in July. Now Dad has been sentenced. By pleading guilty, he managed to get a plea deal that let him avoid the Utah death penalty.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13308061

Father gets 15 years to life for fatally beating 4-month-old daughter
Maximum sentence » Judge says he wanted to give the father more prison time
By Stephen Hunt

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 09/10/2009 11:52:14 AM MDT

A Provo father will spend 15 years to life behind bars for beating to death his 4-month-old daughter.

Victor Gardea, 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder in July. The plea was part of a deal that helped Gardea avoid the death penalty -- new guidelines make it a potential capital crime to kill a child under 14, or to cause a death while committing child abuse.

Provo 4th District Judge David Mortensen told Gardea during his Thursday morning sentencing that "there is nothing as innocent and vulnerable as a 4-month-old child."

Jasmine Gardea died Sept. 9, 2008, one day after her father had struck her in the head and torso.

"To strike a child once is barbaric ... to strike your own daughter twice is evil," Mortensen said Thursday, adding that he would have imposed more prison time had there not been limits set by statute.

Victor Gardea had acknowledged to police at the time of his arrest that he was frustrated because his daughter was crying, and he dealt blows that would have knocked an adult unconscious.

Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman has said Jasmin Gardea died of blunt force trauma to the head. She also suffered abdominal injuries, including a laceration to the liver and three fractured ribs, one of which was an older injury that was healing.