Las Vegas jury convicts father whose daughter drowned

A 27-year-old Las Vegas man was convicted of child endangerment Wednesday in the drowning death of his 2-year-old daughter.

Francisco Vidal, who represented himself throughout a week-long trial, faces 2 to 20 years in prison on one felony count of child neglect or endangerment with substantial bodily harm and up to one year behind bars on a separate misdemeanor count of child neglect or endangerment.

A Clark County District Court jury of nine women and three men took less than three hours to deliberate the case.

Prosectors said Vidal slept while he was supposed to be watching his daughter, Khloe, who wandered outside their home in the far northern valley and drowned in a neighbor’s pool three houses away.

During closing arguments, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Sweetin said Khloe was being raised in an unkempt environment.

They flashed images of a cluttered home — a kitchen counter covered with household cleaners and furniture polish; motorcycle parts scattered on a living room floor; a bathroom with debris in a sink; glass in a tub next to a potty training seat; and a bedroom littered with cat feces.

In a rambling, sometimes repetitive closing statement during which he occasionally stopped to exhale deeply, Vidal tried to argue that his actions were not “willful,” as described in the charges against him.

“This is by far the scariest day of my life,” he told jurors Tuesday, wearing a green button-down shirt and black pants. He continued: “I would never do anything willfully to harm or place my child in harm’s way.”

Vidal acknowledged the conditions, but said his daughter was safe at home.

“She lost her life on somebody else’s property,” Vidal told jurors. “I don’t think my property is the real problem here.”

The girl’s mother and Vidal’s girlfriend, Sandra Scharas, left for work early on the morning of Oct. 17 and pleaded with Vidal to lock the front door behind her because she had no key, Sweetin told jurors.

Instead, Vidal walked into a garage, where he slept for seven or eight hours, and he never locked the front door.

Vidal “not only did nothing to prevent the abandonment of 27-month-old Khloe, which resulted in abuse and neglect, he proactively orchestrated it. He had done it in the past. He was doing it this time,” Sweetin said.

Vidal had stayed up most of the night before, sleeping one or two hours, Sweetin said.

In his defense, Vidal said he fell asleep during the day because he was “overworked,” “worn out” and “exhausted.”

“They say a bunch of stuff that sounds bad,” Vidal said. “The fact of the matter is I fell asleep.”

Vidal awoke when Scharas arrived home.

Prosecutors said Vidal never went to the pool while emergency crews tried to resuscitate his daughter and that he rejected a police request to visit the hospital where doctors tried to save her.

“I didn’t want to face reality,” Vidal told jurors. “I guess you could call me a coward in a sense. I was not man enough.”

At one point, during a long pause, Vidal turned to the gallery and mouthed “I love you” to Scharas, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment in January.

District Judge Douglas Herndon, who presided over the case, scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. July 31.

Vidal asked for an attorney to represent him through the sentencing phase.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at 702-380-1039 or dferrara@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker.