North Las Vegas man gets prison time in daughter’s drowning
A 28-year-old Las Vegas man was ordered to serve 5 to 15 years in prison Tuesday in connection with the drowning death of his 2-year-old daughter.
Prosectors said Francisco 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.
In May 2014, a jury convicted Vidal, who represented himself during a week-long trial, on one count of felony child neglect or endangerment with substantial bodily harm and a separate misdemeanor count of child neglect or endangerment.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Sweetin said Khloe was being raised in an unkempt environment.
The girl’s mother and Vidal’s girlfriend, Sandra Scharas, left for work early on the morning of Oct. 17, 2013 and pleaded with Vidal to lock the front door behind her because she had no key, prosecutors alleged at the trial.
Instead, Vidal walked into a garage, where he slept for seven or eight hours, and he never locked the front door.
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.”
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.
Scharas pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment and was sentenced a year ago to 18 months probation.
On Tuesday, as she and Vidal wept in District Judge Douglas Herndon’s courtroom, Scharas said Vidal was remorseful.
“I just want people to understand we weren’t these horrible monsters,” she said. “We didn’t try to bring badness to our babies. It was a horrible accident.”
In handing down the sentence, the judge told Vidal he was responsible for his conduct.
“Your daughter falling into that pool was an accident,” Herndon said. “Your daughter being at that pool was not an accident. Your daughter being at that pool happened because of your neglect.”
Contact reporter David Ferrara at 702-380-1039 or dferrara@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker