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A Kearns man has pleaded guilty to a reduced count of child abuse homicide in the death of his 4-year-old daughter.
Clinton Joseph Hart, 22, pleaded guilty Monday in 3rd District Court to one count of child abuse homicide, a third-degree felony, and two counts of second-degree felony child abuse in connection with the June 2010 death of Vanessa Hart.
Hart was at work when police say his live-in girlfriend, Marina Navarro, delivered the fatal beating. But prosecutors have alleged Hart knew of the abuse and tried to cover it up.
Navarro, 22, called police on the morning of June 13, 2010, after Vanessa suffered fatal head and abdominal injuries, police said.
Navarro has been charged with aggravated murder, a crime punishable by death.
She is scheduled to next appear in court in August.
At a hearing last year, a Primary Children's Medical Center pediatrician said Vanessa's abdominal injuries were "the worst … I've seen outside of fatal motor vehicle accidents."
The pediatrician said she interviewed Hart at the hospital, where doctors tried for 10 hours to save Vanessa's life. Hart had explanations for almost every one of the bruises on the girl's face, ears, arms, legs and torso, the doctor testified.
According to charging documents, Navarro called Hart at work several days prior to the fatal beating so he could scold the girl for stepping on Navarro's stomach. The following day, Hart told Navarro to make Vanessa stand in the corner until he got home for wetting her pants — a punishment that lasted 5½ hours, charging documents state.
Hart is scheduled to be sentenced July 18.