Downey father pleads no contest to voluntary manslaughter in baby's death

A man pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in connection with his 8-month-old son's death after jurors deadlocked Wednesday on the more serious charges of murder and assault on a child causing death.

Milton Alexis Paniagua -- a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was dressed in a military uniform and acted as his own attorney during his trial in a Norwalk courtroom -- was sentenced to 11 years in state prison as a result of his plea after a mistrial was declared, according to prosecutor Jonathan Hatami.

Jurors had deliberated about 2 1/2 days before announcing that they could not reach a unanimous verdict, according to Hatami, assistant head deputy of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office's Complex Child Abuse Section and Family Violence Division North County.

The panel was evenly split 6-6 on the murder charge and 7-5 with the majority voting in favor of guilt on the assault charge, Hatami said.

The prosecutor had argued last week that the defendant lost his temper, violently shook his 8-month-old baby, Maximilian, and then slammed him onto the hardwood floor at the family's home in Downey on Sept. 26, 2019, while the defendant maintained that he was a good father and contended that there was reasonable doubt about the case against him.

The boy died that Oct. 1 at a hospital, with the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office concluding that the boy died from blunt force head trauma.

The prosecutor told jurors that the defendant "got frustrated," "lost his temper" and "violently shook" his 8-month-old baby and then slammed him onto the floor, but that the father of three sons is "too ashamed" to admit what he did.

"This wasn't from a fall. This wasn't accidental," Hatami said, telling the jury that Paniagua "has lied, refused to take responsibility and blamed everyone else for years" and "pulled the wool" over his family's eyes.

"We will never know all the pain and suffering Max went through after he was shaken and slammed onto the ground ... Max was likely crying out for help because his teeth hurt," the prosecutor said.

Hatami noted that Paniagua's military uniform "doesn't define the person," saying that "what matters is what's inside the uniform."

The prosecutor urged jurors to "hold the defendant accountable" and to find him guilty of second-degree murder and the assault charge. He noted that the boy's injuries included five skull fractures, retinal hemorrhages "too numerous" to count and bruising to the forehead, back, left arm and right flank.

Acting as his own attorney, Paniagua told jurors that "things are not what they seem" and said that he has a "vested interest in figuring out what happened" to his son, whom he called a "very loved boy."

"... I've taken care of my children ... I believe that no matter what the allegations are I'm a good father," he told the panel.

The 46-year-old man suggested that his son should have had injuries to his neck and hips if he had been thrown to the ground as the prosecution has alleged.

"They're making all these claims," the defendant said of the prosecution's case. "I believe I've raised reasonable doubt."

But he told the jury he would respect their verdict regardless of whether they find him guilty or not guilty.

Paniagua was arrested Feb. 21, 2020, by Downey police and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.