A.V. MAN GETS 11 YEARS IN DEATH OF HIS 6-WEEK-OLD SON.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A 23-year-old Lancaster man was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for the death of his 6-week-old son, who died after his head was slammed against a hard surface.

David Henry Hernandez pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in June after prosecutors agreed to dismiss additional charges of murder and child abuse.

Had he been convicted of the child-abuse charge alone, Hernandez would have faced a prison term of 25 years to life, his attorney had said earlier.

The baby's mother, 20-year-old Sheila Valenzuela, pleaded no contest in June to child abuse and was placed on five years' probation.

Infant David Jesus Hernandez was pronounced dead in April 2004 at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles after he was taken off life support devices, prosecutors said.

The coroner described the baby's injuries as ``abusive head trauma,'' prosecutors said.

The baby was malnourished and not growing, and there were recurring rib fractures, indicating he had been injured before, prosecutors said.

The baby was treated by paramedics April 17 at the family's home on Sundell Avenue in Lancaster. His father was arrested early the next day.

Valenzuela was arrested two days later in the courtroom where Hernandez was arraigned on child-abuse charges.

After the baby died April 21, prosecutors added a charge of murder against the father, and upgraded a child-abuse charge against him and the mother -- from child abuse resulting in brain injury to child abuse resulting in death.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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