Oxnard Man Found Guilty of Torturing, Killing Toddler

Oxnard drug dealer Patrick Santillano was convicted of first-degree murder, torture and mayhem Tuesday after a Ventura County jury found he deliberately beat, gagged and bound a 14-month-old boy who was in his care.

Santillano, 34, threw his head in his hands as a Superior Court clerk read the verdicts, reached after about six hours of deliberation. Facing a maximum of 25 years to life in prison, Santillano will be sentenced March 18.

Jurors found Santillano responsible for the Oct. 22, 2000, death of Demitri Robledo, whose mother had left him with Santillano and his ex-girlfriend weeks earlier in a converted garage apartment in south Oxnard.

After jurors returned with their decision, Judge James P. Cloninger handed each panel member a picture of a smiling Demitri to help erase some of the gory autopsy images they had endured during the three-week trial.

Jurors, clutching the photos as they left the courtroom, said they were touched by the action.

“Little Demitri affected all of our lives and justice was done in his name,” said one juror, who asked to remain anonymous.

Outside court, Deputy Dist. Atty Cheryl Temple said she was impressed with the jury’s ability to deal with the emotions of the case and render a rational verdict based on the law. She also commended Cloninger for handing out the boy’s picture, which she said was unusual.

“I thought it was a touching, compassionate gesture in what was a horrifying case,” Temple said.

Demitri’s mother, Yvette Robledo, 23, arrived at court late and missed the verdict. But she hugged Temple outside the courtroom, thanking the prosecutor for helping convict Santillano.

“It means a lot,” Robledo said, tears running down her face. “At least now my baby is at peace.”

Robledo, who left Demitri with Santillano after she was arrested on suspected cocaine use, said she has been clean nearly three months and is trying to get her life back on track.

Demitri’s grandmother, Georgia Rivas, who cheered in court when the guilty verdict was read, said the case has been painful for everyone involved.

“Justice is finally being served,” she said.

Minutes after the verdicts were read, jurors gathered in the hallway outside the courtroom and talked with each other about the case that had consumed their lives for nearly a month.

They shook hands with defense attorney Steve Powell, telling him he did a good job. And they gathered around Temple, talking about aspects of the case and how they reached their decision. The jurors said they believed, for the most part, the testimony of Santillano’s former girlfriend, Teresa Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, an admitted heroin addict who is awaiting sentencing for her role in Demitri’s death, described in detail how Santillano had tortured the child during drug binges.

Jurors said they did not believe the testimony of Santillano, who took the stand last week in his own defense and insisted he never harmed the child and was not even around the apartment when the abuse occurred.

“All we had to do is decide whether he was there,” jury foreman John Mikkelsen told Temple. “After that, everything else just fell in place.”

Several jurors cried as they parted ways. Because of the brutal nature of the case, jurors were offered counseling under the county’s mental health program and some told authorities they were interested in taking advantage of the offer.