SANTA ANA — A 30-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of killing his 3-month-old son and was immediately sentenced to time served in jail awaiting trial.
Jordan Peter Mendez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and a count of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14, both felonies. Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King sentenced Mendez to nine years in prison, but the defendant has been in custody since July 19, 2015.
Mendez was convicted of killing 3-month-old Tristin Cota La Verne Mendez in July 2015.
Santa Ana police were dispatched about 8:44 p.m., July 17, 2015, to 811 W. Stevens Ave. where first responders found the infant not breathing, Deputy District Attorney Harris Siddiq said in a trial brief.
The victim was found to have bruises on the left side of his face, a subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage in both eyes and a subarchnoid hemorrhage, Siddiq said.
Doctors revived Tristin, but he was placed on life support and was pronounced dead July 20, Siddiq said. Police said when Mendez was arrested that the baby was placed on life support so the organs could be donated and a Baptism could be done.
The defendant was also convicted of the sex crime because he and the baby’s mother conceived Tristin when the defendant was 18 and she was 13.
About 1 p.m. on July 17, 2015, the baby’s mother went to pick up her brother from work, leaving Mendez to care for his son, Siddiq said. Mendez took the baby on a stroller ride between 4 and 5 p.m. to a drug store, the prosecutor said.
When Tristin’s mother returned home about 7 p.m. she “panicked because she realized that the defendant had not taken any formula or diapers with him,” Siddiq said.
The baby’s mother went looking for Mendez but couldn’t find him and he was not answering his phone, Siddiq said.
About 8 p.m., Mendez returned home with Tristin and took him upstairs to change his diaper, Siddiq said. The mother noticed her baby’s face turning blue and was “cold to the touch,” prompting her to “scream for someone to call 911,” according to the prosecutor.
Mendez declared he did nothing wrong and would never hurt his son and then left, Siddiq said. Police found Mendez at a nearby coffee shop.
Mendez told police he forgot diapers and when the baby needed a change he took him to a bathroom to wash him up, Siddiq said. Then he returned home he told police, the prosecutor added.
When police confronted him with the baby’s injuries, Mendez “changed his story and claimed to have dropped Tristin M. in the bathroom while attempting to change his diaper,” Siddiq said.
The defendant told police he did not tell the family about the accident because he did not want the baby’s mother angry with him, Siddiq said.
Later, Mendez admitted he shook the baby a few times after he fell “because he was freaking out,” Siddiq said.
Surveillance video showed Mendez taking Tristin to a Ross Department Store where he was in the bathroom for about 30 minutes, Siddiq said.