Gabriela Hernandez

The doctor who treated Joselin Hernandez's burned and battered body in 1994 told a jury Tuesday that he believed the infant's injuries were intentionally inflicted. Dr. Robert Moore was among the witnesses to testify at the murder trial of Joselin's parents, Rogelio and Gabriela Hernandez, who are accused of abusing the child when she was a baby and beating her to death as a 2-year-old.

Two years before Joselin Hernandez was beaten to death, somebody squeezed the infant hard enough to break her ribs and twisted her tiny 6-week-old legs with enough force to fracture her ankles. And somebody--in an almost inconceivable act of abuse--burned her hands, feet and genitals with battery acid. On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Steven Z.

A young Oxnard couple were found guilty Wednesday of killing their 2-year-old daughter, capping a six-week trial that has prompted the county's social services agency to reexamine how it handles child abuse cases. Rogelio Hernandez, 20, hung his head slightly and closed his eyes as he was pronounced guilty of first-degree murder and torture in the beating death of his daughter, Joselin.

While admitting that Rogelio and Gabriela Hernandez may have abused and neglected their daughter, defense attorneys for the Oxnard couple argued Wednesday they never meant to harm the child and are not guilty of murder. Before giving the case to the jury for deliberations, one of the lawyers urged the panelists not to allow passion or prejudice to cloud their judgment.

On the eve of a preliminary hearing for a young Oxnard couple accused of beating their 2-year-old daughter to death, Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury issued a statement placing blame for the girl's death in part on the justice system, including his own department. "It is clear from this review that the entire justice system intended to protect children failed her," Bradbury said in the written statement issued Thursday afternoon. "Regrettably, this office shares the blame."

Opening statements are scheduled to begin this week in the murder trial of Gabriela and Rogelio Hernandez, the Oxnard teens accused of abusing and fatally beating their 2-year-old toddler, Joselyn. The 18-year-old defendants face charges of murder and felony child abuse for allegedly beating and burning the little girl before her death on June 22, 1996. The father faces an additional charge of torture. Joselyn died as a result of blunt force injuries to her abdomen.

Saying he was amazed by the horror 2-year-old Joselin Hernandez suffered in her short life, a Ventura County judge sentenced her mother to 11 years in state prison Monday. Gabriela Hernandez wept after the judge detailed her daughter's abuse and told the 23-year-old he could not understand why she failed to stop her husband from beating the toddler to death. "It brings you to tears," Superior Court Judge Edward F. Brodie told the attorneys. "Her daughter had absolutely no one left to turn to.

Bail was set at $250,000 each for an Oxnard couple accused of beating their 2-year-old daughter to death in June, as a judge on Friday gave their court-appointed attorneys three additional weeks to prepare a defense. Rojelio and Gabriela Hernandez were arrested Thursday by Oxnard police detectives in the beating death of their daughter, Joselyn, who collapsed and died June 22 while attending a friend's birthday party.

With the help of a plastic doll, an investigator demonstrated in court Tuesday how Rogelio Hernandez would allegedly perch his young daughter on one hand and then flip her upside-down while holding her by the ankles. Jess Velasquez, an investigator for the district attorney's office, testified in the murder trial of Rogelio and Gabriela Hernandez, who are accused of fatally beating 2-year-old Joselin Amor last year.