A Santa Maria man will face a jury trial for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son on a July 4 family outing at Pismo State Beach.

Juan Francisco Nunez, 24, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment for burying Jesse Alvarez in the sand at the dunes, which resulted in the young boy’s death.

He’s accused of covering Jesse’s face with two big sweeps of sand, after completely covering the boy’s body with 2 to 4 inches of sand, which caused the youngster to stop breathing.

An autopsy revealed that Jesse, also of Santa Maria, died from asphyxiation caused by inhaling sand.

During Nunez’s preliminary hearing Wednesday, his attorney, Mike Adams, argued that his client didn’t commit involuntary manslaughter when he buried Jesse and shouldn’t have to stand trial for the felony charge.

“Involuntary manslaughter involves more than ordinary negligence; it has to be criminal negligence,” Adams argued. “It’s easy to look back in hindsight at the results and say this was a really bad thing ... (but) that doesn’t make it a criminal situation.”

Involuntary manslaughter, often called criminally negligent homicide, occurs when a person takes another’s life without any forethought or malice.

Advertisement

Criminal negligence occurs when someone engages in an act that’s reckless and has a high risk of causing death or great bodily injury to another, and does so without using reasonable caution.

Adams also argued that burying someone in the sand is a “normal activity” that many people do when enjoying a day at the beach.

“There’s no indication there was intent to do harm,” Adams said.

Sheriff’s Detective David Marquez, who investigated the case, testified that a family friend, Dahrion Orlando, who was with Jesse and his family at the beach, told him that Jesse asked Nunez not to cover his face.

Orlando also told the detective that Nunez made two large sweeps of sand over Jesse’s face after the boy asked twice not to have his face covered, Marquez testified.

After Nunez covered the boy’s face, Orlando also told the detective that she saw a hole appear in the sand and then collapse near where Jesse’s mouth was, he said.

“She said it was like the sand was going into something,” Marquez testified.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Kraut argued that Nunez should face an involuntary manslaughter charge because of how deep he buried Jesse in the sand.

In a photo taken of Jesse moments before Nunez covered his face, only the outline of the boy’s small facial features are visible because the rest of his body is submerged in the sand.

“A reasonable person would have uncovered him because he was so vulnerable,” Kraut said. “This is not just a matter of inattention but an intentional act.”

Marquez was also present at Jesse’s autopsy and said the youngster’s airways were completely blocked by sand after “he sucked it in.”

The detective said that Stacy Baiza, Jesse’s mother, told him that sand got on her son’s face when his older brother, who was buried next to Jesse, stood up, Marquez said.

During a preliminary hearing, the prosecution presents evidence to a judge in an attempt to show there’s a significant possibility that a person committed a crime and a trial should take place.

Superior Court Judge Ernest Borunda felt there was enough evidence to find Nunez guilty and bound him over for trial.

September 11, 2008