‘I do not like this deal’: Judge orders probation in killing of 1-year-old

A man who admitted to killing his then-girlfriend’s 1-year-old son was given probation Tuesday, as a prosecutor noted problems with evidence in the case.

Christian Moniz Rabino was sentenced to no more than five years’ probation after he pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Kai Tesoro. Court records indicated that Rabino either hit Kai on the head, shook him, or did both, resulting in the child’s death on June 6, 2024.

District Jacqueline Judge Bluth, who handed down the suspended sentence agreed upon by Rabino and prosecutors, ruled that, while on probation, Rabino should have no contact with minors, except his own child, who lives in Arizona. He must also take a six-week anger management class, follow a 10 p.m. curfew, and perform community service if he does not secure full-time employment.

The judge stated that she disagreed with the negotiation but, given the circumstances of the case, felt obligated to follow the agreement.

Days before the boy died, police received a call reporting that Kai was unconscious and not breathing. He was taken to Summerlin Hospital, where he was sedated and ventilated, with bruising and a fractured right leg.

Rabino and Kai’s mother told investigators the boy had a seizure and was injured in a fall, but medical tests showed the injuries were not accidental, with one doctor describing it as one of the worst he had seen.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti said that inconsistent witness statements were among the reasons prosecutors faced challenges in bringing the case to trial.

“In these cases, typically, there are no eyewitnesses in the true sense, and so you’re relying upon caregivers to give the most accurate information,” Rinetti said. “There was some concern about some of the witnesses and their statements to police — especially the victim’s mother, who gave three statements to police, the first two in which (she said) ‘nothing happened.’”

During the third interview, when police indicated she was being treated as a suspect, the mother changed her story, Rinetti said. The prosecutor later told reporters that she had reason to believe that the mother may have been scared to speak out against Rabino.

Rinetti, becoming choked up, also said that Kai’s autopsy showed he had older, abusive injuries that were still unexplained.

“As I told the family, this is a rare negotiation for me as well. I take these cases very, very seriously, but I also have to live with the facts of the case and what I can prove at trial,” Rinetti said. “And there is, for both sides, a huge risk of going to trial — for the defendant, who could spend the rest of his life in prison, but also for the state that an individual who we believe killed a child walks out with no ramifications whatsoever.”

Rabino, who appeared out of custody and had represented himself for the majority of the court proceedings, declined to speak during the hearing. Shortly thereafter, Kai’s grandfather, Steven Tesoro, pleaded with the judge to give the child “the justice he deserves.”

“We’re talking a minuscule amount of time that he has to pay for taking the life of a 1½-year-old child,” Steven Tesoro said. “He took Kai’s life with his own hands. I can’t even comprehend how that can be done.”

Tesoro said his family was shattered by Kai’s death, but the pain they felt paled in comparison to what the boy had to endure.

Bluth said that she agreed that Kai deserved justice.

“What happened to him should not have happened,” the judge said. “I do not like this deal.”

She then addressed Rabino, “I am going to give you probation like the deal calls for. You will get one shot. You step sideways on this, and I will not bat an eye at sending you away for the maximum.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.