Porterville man guilty of murdering baby son. Abuse happened because he wanted to sleep

A Porterville man was convicted on Wednesday of murdering his baby son.

Joseph Ulloa, 33, was convicted of second-degree murder and assault resulting in the death of his 3-month-old son, Jackson. His conviction was announced in the Visalia division of Tulare County Superior Court.

The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release that Ulloa shook the baby and threw him on a bed and couch in the early morning hours of Sept. 23, 2010 numerous times in an apartment they shared with the baby’s mother, who was at work, because Ulloa wanted to go back to bed. Ulloa then strapped the baby into a bouncing chair and went back to sleep.

“During this time, the baby went in to full cardiac arrest and suffered severe bilateral retinal hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhages in the brain, a traumatic brain injury, and two posterior fractured ribs,” the district attorney’s office reported.

After Ulloa awoke, he took the unresponsive baby to a neighbor, who called 911. The baby was on a ventilator at Valley Children’s Hospital until he died Oct. 14, 2010.

Ulloa’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 6. He is facing 25 years-to-life in prison.

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 5:37 PM.