American Fork » A jury spent more than 10 hours deliberating before finding Daniella Ruiz guilty of child abuse homicide for the death of a 5-month-old child she was baby-sitting.

After a weeklong trial, the jury remained sequestered until midnight Monday night and resumed deliberations Tuesday morning, delivering their verdict shortly before noon.

Prosecutors urged jurors to find Ruiz guilty of first-degree felony murder, which would require finding that she acted with "depraved indifference." The jury instead convicted her of the alternate charge of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony for which she will face up to 15 years in prison.

Ruiz, 26, was baby-sitting Brandon Zamora and watching her own young children on Jan. 4, 2006. Jurors listened to a 911 call she made near 1 p.m., telling operators the baby had just stopped breathing.

Paramedics could not resuscitate the baby, who died after being declared brain-dead at Primary Children's Medical Center the next day.

Several doctors who examined Brandon testified for the state that the child died from trauma that caused his brain to swell and suggested a scenario where he was violently shaken and then thrown onto a soft surface like a bed.

An autopsy revealed no external injuries, but severe hemorrhaging behind the eyes, a thin layer of blood around the brain, and bleeding around the baby's kidneys and spine.

Medical experts for the defense suggested that the child may have had a bleeding disorder or a vitamin K deficiency that caused spontaneous hemorrhaging. Defense attorney Sheldon Carter argued that in several cases, parents suspected of shaking their babies were later cleared by new evidence, and that there was no proof Ruiz had shaken Brandon.

"It scares the death of me that this argument being made by the state has any plausibility at all, because it puts us all at risk," he told jurors during his closing argument. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Prosecutor Chad Grunander reminded the jury that during a long interview with police after Brandon's hospitalization, Ruiz made several comments to the effect of, "I do feel guilty but I don't know what happened," and "my fear is maybe I did [shake the baby]." Grunander mentioned Ruiz' own testimony from last week, in which she described having felt depressed and worried in the days leading up to Brandon's death.

"We're not alleging that she's a terrible mother, an evil wicked person," he said, "We're alleging that she lost control, that she shook Brandon, which caused brain damage that was irreversible and caused his death."

Judge David Mortensen allowed Ruiz to remain free until her sentencing on Jan. 13.