Hearings Start in Death of Toddler
Preliminary hearings began Friday in the case of two Monterey Park parents charged with murder, abuse and sexual molestation in the death of their 18-month-old daughter, Destiny.
Destiny had been taken from her parents’ custody at birth and returned only a few months before she died, officials said. Her death in December shook up the Department of Children and Family Services and led to the firing of the social worker assigned to her case.
Handcuffed to their chairs, Destiny’s parents, Patricia Inez Vildosola and William Jacobo Jr., sat motionless through several hours of testimony by Jacobo’s grandmother, Ester Jacobo, and by Los Angeles County Deputy Coroner James Ribe.
The couple were arrested in December when Destiny died from what appeared to be shaken baby syndrome, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Cheri Lewis.
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