Modesto woman convicted of second-degree murder in baby’s death

A jury on Friday afternoon convicted a Modesto woman of second-degree murder in the 2009 starvation death of her 3-month-old daughter.

The jury of eight men and four women delivered its verdict against 28-year-old Christine Marie Rocco in Stanislaus Superior Court. The jury then was polled, and each member said the verdict was his or her own “true and individual” vote.

Rocco appeared to be crying, and her attorney, public defender Sweena Pannu, put her hand on her client’s back.

Outside the courtroom, members of the jury declined to comment. One man said, “Not at this time. It’s hard.”

Authorities say the baby, Ashayla Jackson, was found dead the morning of Jan. 11, 2009, on a bedroom’s carpeted floor wearing nothing but a diaper and wrapped in a blanket.

“It took seven long years to get justice for tiny Ashayla Jackson,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees said after the verdict. “She should be 8 years old now, and playing with her friends. It was such a horrible, unnecessary death of such an innocent victim.”

She said she was pleased with the relatively quick verdict. Deliberations began about 3 p.m. Thursday, and while Rees said she didn’t know what time the jurors reconvened Friday morning, “you expect in a murder case for deliberation to take a long time.”

But Pannu “essentially conceded involuntary manslaughter in her closing arguments,” Rees said, which let the prosecution get straight to the matter of arguing whether the crime was murder.

Pannu said she was “very disappointed” in the verdict but declined further comment because her client still awaits sentencing.

Sentencing has been scheduled for July 15, Rees said, noting that Rocco requested that long of a wait so her parents can be present. The defendant faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

The prosecutor told jurors Thursday that Ashayla died alone in a dark room, wearing a urine-soaked diaper, after weeks of starvation. Rocco “did nothing for weeks ... that’s murder,” Rees said, saying the child’s mother didn’t call a doctor or 911.

Ashayla was born 21 days early, but she was a healthy newborn weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 18 inches in length. Her only visit to a doctor was eight days later.

Child abuse expert Dr. James Crawford-Jakubiak testified the infant starved to death, which took at least a few weeks. He called it one of the most extreme cases of neglect he had ever seen.

The defense attorney argued that her client was feeding her child; residue from baby formula was found in Ashayla’s body. Rocco told authorities the girl had been suffering from diarrhea.

Pannu told the jury that authorities did not conduct any stool testing that could have revealed an underlying infection that was causing the diarrhea and depleting the girl of the needed nutrients. The attorney argued that Rocco had exhibited no previous signs of neglecting Ashayla or her then-2-year-old brother.

“You do need to know if this child was suffering from a disease or not,” the defense attorney said in court.

County forensic pathologist Sung-Ook Baik testified Tuesday that Rocco’s infant daughter died from sepsis caused by a diaper rash that stemmed from severe malnutrition, dehydration and starvation. He said it appeared to him that the infant had been neglected over a long period of time.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Modesto woman convicted of second-degree murder in baby’s death."