FRESNO, Calif. (KERO) — On April 27, 2023, Judge Mark Cullers of the Fresno Superior Court sentenced Kenneth Johnson, 37, of Fresno, to a prison term of 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of a toddler in November of 2016.
A press release on Johnson's sentencing by Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp explaining the case reads, in part:
On November 20, 2016, officers responded to the hospital for a non-breathing 14-month-old victim who presented with extensive injuries to the abdomen and head. The subsequent investigation determined that the child, while in the sole care of Johnson, received critical liver and brain injuries. The evidence revealed that these injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma associated with an assault. Tragically, the child did not survive these injuries. Johnson admitted to punching the child in the stomach and was witnessed by another minor in the home striking the child in the face with a hard object. No other adults were in the home at the time the assault occurred.
Smittcamp also recognized the efforts and dedication of the Fresno Police Department, as well as prosecutors from the Fresno County District Attorney's office in bringing this case to justice.
