SANTA ANA : Girl Sentenced for Fatally Beating Baby

A teen-age girl convicted of fatally beating a 9-month-old baby was sentenced Monday to the California Youth Authority, where she will be held until her 25th birthday.

Maria de Socorro Naranjo-Saavedra was baby-sitting the child on Jan. 2, 1992, when she inflicted the beating, apparently because the baby would not stop crying. She was 15 at the time, and working as a live-in baby-sitter.

Superior Court Judge Theodore E. Millard agreed with Socorro’s attorney that she has some mental impairment. But other evidence showed that she has the ability to reason that the continued beating and shaking of a child would eventually lead to serious injuries, and even death, the judge said.

The infant, Oscar Vargas, was struck at least 23 times. Nine of those blows were inflicted when his head was smashed against the crib, according to court testimony.

Deputy Public Defender Anthony Mesa contended that his client could not comprehend the physical consequences of striking a child.

In her four weeks as a live-in baby-sitter for the Vargases, Socorro had never been left alone with their three children as she was that evening, Mesa said. So when Oscar cried for several hours, she felt out of control and didn’t know what to do, he said.

After she beat him unconscious, Socorro then sat down and waited for Oscar’s parents to come home, according to testimony.