Alamo Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Voluntary Manslaughter of 10-Month-Old Infant

ALBUQUERQUE—Yesterday, a federal judge sentenced Kalvest Ganadonegro, 31, a member of the Navajo Nation from Alamo, New Mexico, to a 120-month term of imprisonment for his voluntary manslaughter conviction. Ganadonegro will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Ganadonegro’s conviction arose out of the death of a 10-month-old infant who had been left in his care on November 21, 2008. Ganadonegro was convicted of voluntary manslaughter on March 5, 2012, after a seven-day trial.

Ganadonegro initially was charged with assault resulting in death in a criminal complaint filed on November 24, 2008, alleging that he killed a 10-month-old infant by shaking her violently on November 21, 2008. Subsequently, on February 10, 2009, Ganadonegro was indicted and charged with first-degree murder. The case went to trial in September 2011 and resulted in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

On November 9, 2011, Ganadonegro was indicted in a three-count superseding indictment charging him with: (1) second-degree murder; (2) voluntary manslaughter; and (3) negligent child abuse resulting in death. Trial on the superseding indictment began on February 27, 2012, and ended on March 5, 2012, when the jury convicted Ganadonegro of count two and acquitted him of counts one and three.

The evidence at the second trial established that on November 21, 2008, in a residence located in Alamo, which is on the Navajo Indian Reservation, Ganadonegro shook and killed a 10-month-old infant whom he was babysitting because she would not stop crying. Ganadonegro picked up the infant, shook her, and forcefully put her down on the couch. Ganadonegro shook the infant on at least two occasions. The shaking caused a diffuse subdural hematoma, cerebral edema, and diffuse retinal hemorrhages that eventually lead to the infant’s brain death.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer M. Rozzoni and Jeremy Pena.