Patterson man housing children with autism found guilty in toddler’s death

A prosecutor this week told a jury that 2-year-old Jacklyn Nguyen was beaten. He said the toddler suffered bruises all over her body, a serious head injury and internal bleeding that forced doctors to remove her from life support equipment.

Vincent Hoai Do, who offered to treat children with autism in his Patterson home, told investigators the girl fell while they were out hiking. He said he believed Jacklyn, who was unconscious, was just sleepy after their hike. So, he waited hours before he called 911 for help.

“You can’t just watch this girl die,” Deputy District Attorney John R. Mayne argued in court Wednesday. “That’s murder.”

Donnell Snipes, Do’s attorney, argued that the girl did not have facial fractures, broken teeth, neck injuries or other broken bones to indicate she was abused. He said his client made mistakes that day, but he didn’t cause her injuries.

“He had bad judgment. At worse, it was incompetence,” Snipes told the jury Wednesday. “It could be involuntary manslaughter, or even child abuse causing great bodily injury, but not murder.”

The jury seems to have agreed with the defense attorney. The jury found Do guilty of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse causing death.

The child suffered her injuries in June 2015. She was flown by air ambulance to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, where she later succumbed to those injuries.

It’s unclear what particular developmental disability Jacklyn had, but she had been living in Do’s home for about a week before her death. Mayne said Do offered to treat and house the girl in exchange for $15,000.

Her parents had driven their daughter from their Orange County home to Patterson, where Do housed four children with autism. Mayne said Jacklyn’s mother was seeking real treatment for her daughter’s condition, believing she “could save her child from a very difficult life.”

Do worked as a chiropractor and operated a chiropractic business in the San Jose area. The prosecutor says the defendant also called himself a functional neurologist, but the defendant does not have a medical degree.

The defendant told authorities that the child accidentally fell during a visit to Pacheco State Park, about 20 miles west of Los Banos.

The prosecutor told the jury that Do’s account was very unlikely. The defendant claimed the girl was standing up and injured herself after falling back and then forward a few feet to the ground.

Do told investigators that other children in the house were sometimes rough with Jacklyn.

“They could’ve caused those bruises,” Snipes said about the other children. “And if they caused those bruises, then he’s not guilty of murder.”

Stanislaus County sheriff’s Sgt. Josh Sandoval testified that Do told him that the child fell at the park, but he waited a few hours before he called 911 for help. The defendant told Sandoval that he tried to use acupressure to revive the girl.

Acupressure is used to relieve tension or pain using the same points on the body as in acupuncture, but acupressure stimulates with fingertip or thumb pressure instead of with the insertion of needles.

Forensic pathologist Eugene Carpenter testified that Jacklyn died from blunt force trauma that was not consistent with a fall.

Snipes argued that his client cooperated with investigators, a sign of his innocence. But Do lied to investigators, saying he didn’t have his cell phone with him at the park.

“Lying about a phone doesn’t make you a killer” Snipes told the jury.

Mayne argued that Do was a “scammer” more interested in protecting his “meal ticket,” so he refused to call authorities who would then go to his home. The prosecutor said Do must have been worried Child Protective Services would retrieve the children, ending his business enterprise.

Do, 51, remains in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail. He is scheduled to return to court Sept. 4 for his sentencing hearing. Mayne said Do faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison. Had the jury convicted Do of murder, he would’ve faced a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

Testimony in the trial went on for a few days and ended with the attorneys’ closing arguments Wednesday. The jurors began deliberations Wednesday afternoon and continued Thursday before their verdict was announced about 3 p.m.

The prosecutor said the jury’s verdict seems to indicate the jurors believed Do’s failure to call for help was criminally negligent, but they also believed the defendant didn’t know his failure to call would likely seriously harm or kill Jacklyn.

“I respect the jury’s verdict, which came after over a day of deliberations,” Mayne said. “Defendant Do will be held responsible for Jacklyn’s death, as he well should.”

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This story was originally published July 20, 2018 at 2:22 PM.