INDIO, Calif. -- A 27-year-old Riverside County mother has been convicted of murder for beating her 21-month-old son to death.
A Superior Court jury convicted Ana Cedillo of second-degree murder Thursday in Indio.
Cedillo was also found guilty of attempted assault of a child with force and child abuse in the Sept. 28, 2007, death of Oscar Zuniga Jr.
Prosecutors argued Cedillo did not like her son because the toddler favored his father.
Cedillo's attorney argued that the child had developmental problems and would often fall while trying to walk on a tile floor.
Cedillo claimed the boy fell in the bathtub.
Oscar died after suffering from fever, vomiting and abdominal pain for several days.
An autopsy found that he had suffered multiple injuries to the head, several rib fractures, missing and chipped teeth and bruises.
He died because his small intestine ruptured.
Child welfare officials had taken Cedillo's children away before.
Cedillo faces 15 years to life in prison when she's sentenced on August 6.
A Superior Court jury convicted Ana Cedillo of second-degree murder Thursday in Indio.
Cedillo was also found guilty of attempted assault of a child with force and child abuse in the Sept. 28, 2007, death of Oscar Zuniga Jr.
Prosecutors argued Cedillo did not like her son because the toddler favored his father.
Cedillo's attorney argued that the child had developmental problems and would often fall while trying to walk on a tile floor.
Cedillo claimed the boy fell in the bathtub.
Oscar died after suffering from fever, vomiting and abdominal pain for several days.
An autopsy found that he had suffered multiple injuries to the head, several rib fractures, missing and chipped teeth and bruises.
He died because his small intestine ruptured.
Child welfare officials had taken Cedillo's children away before.
Cedillo faces 15 years to life in prison when she's sentenced on August 6.
