FRESNO, CA (KMJ)- A 31 year old Fresno man is charged with murder in the death of a child.
Kenneth Johnson is accused of killing 14-month-old Jose Espinoza back on November 19, 2016.
The child’s mother left him the hands of Johnson’s 20-year-old girlfriend — who had a restraining order against him.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer spoke at the time, saying Johnson first denied accusations — but then admitted to detectives that he did in fact; “punch the 14 month-old child in the stomach after becoming frustrated with the baby’s crying.”
Johnson was originally arrested for this crime in 2016.
At that time, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges based on the need for additional information from medical examinations that were being conducted.
Johnson has been re-arrested on this charge and is currently in custody at the Fresno County Jail.
If convicted of the murder charge Johnson faces up to life in prison. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, January 8th.
Click below to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
