Calif. man gets death for sexual assault, torture, murder of girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter

Calif man gets death for sex-killing of 5-year-old

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. — A Southern California man has been sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and beating to death his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter.

Twenty-nine-year-old Antonio Rodriguez was sentenced Thursday in a San Fernando courtroom for the 2004 attack. He was convicted in July of murder, torture and other charges.

Prosecutors say Rodriguez brutalized Desarie Saravia and her 6-year-old brother for months before he molested and beat the girl in a park restroom. He’d taken the children to the park while their mother cleaned a house nearby.

Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen said during sentencing that Rodriguez had extinguished the light of an angel.

The girl’s mother, 32-year-old Debby Saravia, is awaiting trial on murder and other charges.