An Arapahoe County jury today found a woman guilty of shaking her 1-year-old niece, killing her.
Claudia Jimenez-Cedillo, 27, was found guilty of child abuse resulting in death after a two-week trial, and two days of deliberation.
On Aug. 18, 2008 Jimenez-Cedillo was babysitting her niece, who was teething at the time.
Because of the teething, the baby was crying, and Jimenez-Cedillo became irritated, according to the district attorney’s office.
The woman picked up the baby and shook it repeatedly, hitting the baby’s head on a nearby crib causing a massive skull fracture and internal bleeding behind the eyes and brain, prosecutors said.
By the time paramedics transported the one-year-old to the hospital, she was comatose. She later died of her injuries.
Jimenez-Cedillo initially told police that her niece had accidentally fallen off of a bed and hit her head.
During the case, doctors testified the injuries were not consistent with a fall from a bed.
Jimenez-Cedillo will be sentenced in December, and faces a sentence of 16 to 48 years in prison.
