High Court Lets Stand Conviction of Man Guilty of Daughter’s Drowning in Pasadena

California’s Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a Lancaster man who was convicted of his one-year old daughter’s drowning death eight years ago in Pasadena, which means his conviction will stand

Marquise Jackson, 29, was found guilty in July 2016 of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in his daughter Mo’Nayjah’s death.

According to investigation records from the Pasadena Police Department, on May 20, 2011, officers responded to a call about a one-year-old girl who wasn’t breathing in the 100 block of Wesr Del Mar Boulevard. Rescuers from the Pasadena Fire Department attempted to resuscitate the child but were not successful.

Three months later, August 25, 2011, officers arrested Jackson on suspicion of murder in connection with the baby’s death.

During investigation, Jackson attempted to evade responsibility by saying it was an accident. Police, however, saw holes in his statements; Jackson later admitted he drowned his daughter by putting her head underwater in the bathtub.

“After it happened, I couldn’t take it. I had to leave. I didn’t want to stay there,” Jackson told police. “It was just stuff building up, you know. I – I had a baby and nothing going right for me, like I can’t provide for her. I couldn’t do nothing I wanted to do, period. So it was just like a burden.”

Jackson drowned the child while her mother was at work, according to police statements. The godmother of the baby’s mother – who was staying with the family – testified during the appeal hearing that Jackson told her he didn’t want a baby and was not ready to be a father.

He was tried by a jury at the Los Angeles County Superior Court and sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison on August 12, 2016. He appealed the judgment but the California Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the jury’s conviction.