A Camp Pendleton Marine who fatally beat his 7-month-old son after taking physical custody of the child was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years to life in state prison.
Stanford Morocho, 23, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Saunders said Morocho shared custody of his son, Emilio, with the child's mother, with whom the defendant no longer had a relationship.
Morocho took physical custody of the baby on Dec. 2, 2014, and by the morning of Dec. 12, the child was dead, according to the prosecutor.
During that timeframe, the defendant inflicted various forms of abuse on the baby, Saunders said. Emilio suffered significant bruising on his body and face, a skull fracture, rib fractures and internal bleeding, according to the prosecutor.
Morocho made incriminating statements about the case during an interview with Oceanside police, but it's not clear how he injured the baby, according to authorities.
Morocho's live-in girlfriend, Savoeun Meas, who is not the baby's mother, pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and faces up to six years in prison when she is sentenced May 18.
