People v. Martinez

A jury convicted Stephen Martinez of murder in the first degree for knowingly killing Heather Mares, a child under the age of twelve in his care. Martinez violently shook four month-old Heather and slammed her head on the edge of her crib, resulting in her death. Two experts for the prosecution, Dr. Ann Martin and Dr. Patty Rosquist, explained Heather died from blunt force trauma to the head resulting from shaken-impact syndrome 1 -a vigorous shaking and sudden deceleration of the brain as it strikes an object. The syndrome is characterized by a constellation of injuries, including a subdural…