Father pleads guilty to murder in death of baby girl

PROVO — A father charged with causing the death of his 4-month-old baby girl pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of murder Thursday.

Victor Gardea, 22, spent nearly an hour discussing the details of his case with his attorneys before he was finally ready to proceed with his case in 4th District Court.

"He just wanted to make sure he was making the right decision," defense attorney Richard Gale said. "He's signing off on something that he's going to be in prison for, for 20 years."

With the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the charge from aggravated murder, which carries the potential of the death penalty, to murder, which is punishable by 15 years to life in prison.

However, prosecutors had indicated earlier that they would not be seeking the death penalty, Gale said.

Gardea was arrested in September after he called 911 to report his infant daughter, Jasmin, wasn't breathing. When police later questioned him, he told them he had punched her in the face and torso to get her to stop crying.

Gardea said he had been up all night helping his wife, Sujey, study, and if Jasmin kept crying, Gardea worried she would wake the couple's son, now 3, thus eliminating any possibility of sleep.

Since his arrest, Gardea has admitted he committed the crime and wanted to take responsibility, but he took exception when people said he intended to kill his daughter. He never did, Gale said.

In fact, Gale previously filed a motion arguing that Gardea's crime didn't fall into the category of aggravated murder because he didn't show "reckless indifference to human life." It was Gardea who began CPR, called 911 and was cooperative with police in hopes that it would help his child.

But prosecutors argued against the motion — which the judge also denied — and refused to drop the charge any lower than murder.

It's expected Gardea will serve around 20 years in prison, his attorneys said.

"There is really no sentence that makes up for what happened," said Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman.

Sujey Gardea knows that all too well.

"She obviously is heartbroken about her daughter," Gale said. "But she still loves (Victor), and he's still the father of her other son. She believes he's a good father and that he was frustrated and never intended to cause death."

Gardea will be sentenced Sept. 10 at 10 a.m.

Contributing: Sara Lenz

e-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com