Man Who Fatally Injured Girlfriend's 1-year-old at Arlington Motel Gets 40 Years in Prison

An Arlington man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for causing the injuries that resulted in the death of his girlfriend's child nearly five years ago.Tarrant County prosecutors had sought to convict 33-year-old Cameron Phillip Esparza of murder, but a jury found him guilty Tuesday of the lesser charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury.Police were called to the BudgetStay Suites in the 1200 block of West Division Street in the early-morning hours of Aug. 2, 2013. Officers found 1-year-old Landynn Lee Rice-Fernandez unresponsive at the motel's front office; he was pronounced dead less than half an hour later at Arlington Memorial Hospital. Police arrested Esparza, who was taking care of Landynn while the boy's mother was at work, after finding suspicious bruises on the child's body. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office later determined that the boy died from blunt force injuries to his chest and abdomen and ruled his death a homicide.Prosecutors argued that Esparza struck the child against a hard object or surface, causing his fatal injuries.  Continue reading...