A man has been jailed for 100 years after he was caught on CCTV repeatedly throwing his three-year-old stepdaughter in a swimming pool, eventually causing her to drown. The incident on 12 August 2015, occurred at a hotel in the city of Morelia, in the south-western Mexican state of Michoacan.
In shocking surveillance footage, Jose David N. is seen on several occasions throwing the child who was unable to swim, into the water, leaving her scared and frantic.
On another occasion he throws her into the water fully clothed and walks away, only returning to throw her in the water again. At one point in the video he is seen in the pool, appearing to hold her head down under the water for several seconds.
A third time, after he throws her into the middle of the pool, the child struggles to stay afloat. With her arms flailing she pleads for help, but he stands motionless watching her. He eventually throws out a lifebuoy but deliberately throws it too far for her to reach it.
The child was helplessly struggling for her life, but neither her step-father nor the other bathers did anything to try and save her.
The youngster's mother, who is a nurse, had left the child in the care of her step-father while she was sleeping in their hotel room. She later found the lifeless girl slumped in front of the TV. After realizing that she was not breathing, the couple took the child to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Jose was arrested and detained a short time later. While he was aware that his stepdaughter could not swim he expressed surprise after being told that she had drowned, the court heard. The mother claimed she did not know her daughter was being mistreated until she saw the shocking video clips.
Jose refused to testify during the murder trial, but was convicted based on the incriminating video footage, Mail Online reports. Judges Juan Salvador Alonso Mejia, Ana Lilia Garcia Cardona and Noe Reyes Millan found him guilty of aggravated murder.
He was initially jailed with no possibility of parole after prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of up to 40 years, however after reviewing the horrifying video the judge increased the sentence to 100 years.
The judge, Garcia Cardona, who read the sentence, said Jose threw the toddler into the pool several times, and dragged her by the hair under the water. He then held her body in such a position that she was unable to breathe.
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