Man, 25, Crushed Baby Girl With His Foot Because He Felt ‘Taken Advantage Of’ By Neighbor For Asking Him To Babysit

Daniel Ruiz, 25, was convicted of murder in California on Thursday after he crushed a baby girl to death with his foot, and left her to die on the floor while he watched television.

The convicted murderer claimed in court that he crushed the baby because he felt “taken advantage of” by the child’s mother, since she asked him to watch the child for 30 minutes while she ran to the store for milk. Therefore, after the woman left, Ruiz says he was angry and took it out on the one-year-old baby girl, Scarlett. He says he put his foot on her chest and pushed down all of his weight, he then heard the baby gasping for air and instead of providing aid, walked over to the television and flipped through the channels for a few minutes.

The Daily Mail reports that Daniel Ruiz was with his girlfriend Terra when her neighbor and friend Andrea asked if Daniel would watch her two children while the women went to the store to get milk. Ruiz agreed and the women left. However, the man says he felt “used” and “taken advantage of” so he decided to take out his anger on the woman’s child, the one-year-old baby Scarlett.

Daniel Ruiz Convicted Of Crushing Baby To Death With His Foot Because He Felt Used – https://t.co/f56S9MjtHd

— Dreamin’ Demon (@dreamindemon) November 22, 2015

Ruiz told police after feeling frustrated he walked over to the baby that was laying in the floor and placed his left food on her chest. He then applied his full body weight, 230 pounds, to the child’s chest. He says the little girl began to gasp for air and he stopped. As the baby continued to gasp and wheeze in the background, Ruiz walked over to the television set and began shuffling through the channels. The police report indicates he did this for a few minutes before realizing that the baby was having a seizure. Once noting the seizure, the man apparently tried to “snap her out of it” by tapping her cheek but she did not respond and the seizures continued. However, he did not call for help. Instead, he waited for his girlfriend and the little girl’s mother to get home before screaming out the door to them to take the baby to the hospital. The little girl’s mother tried dialing 911 but couldn’t get through so she scooped up her baby and ran to a fire station across the street.

Man fatally crushed a baby girl with his foot because he felt ‘taking advantage of’ by his girfriend’s neighbo… https://t.co/EjDiWs6Rw7

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Sadly, the firemen and hospital were unable to revive baby Scarlett and she passed away from her injuries. However, the police, firemen and hospital did not initially know what happened as Ruiz claimed he didn’t know what caused the child to begin to gasp. It was not until the baby’s autopsy came back that all of the internal injuries were noted, and Daniel Ruiz admitted to his horrifying acts.

In fact, the deputy district attorney in the murder case, Kathleen DiDonato, says that after admitting to crushing the little girl, Ruiz said that he “actually felt better after stepping on the victim” and watching some television despite the fact the baby was dying right behind him.

“The defendant stated that he actually felt better after stepping on the victim, as he sat there watching television. The whole time, Scarlett was behind him, lying on the floor trying to catch her breath. Fighting for her life.”

A California jury found Ruiz guilty of one count of second-degree murder and one count of assault on a child causing death. The man is now facing up to 25 years in prison for crushing the child to death.

[Image via San Bernardino Sheriff]