A Manhattan man was found guilty yesterday of shaking his girlfriend’s baby to death for crying while the Super Bowl was on TV.
Jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court took less than a day to convict Alexander Rosario, 34 – an apprentice sculptor who lived with his mother and girlfriend on Avenue D.
But because Rosario has been in jail for 17 months awaiting trial, he’s already eligible for parole, said his lawyer, Dave Blackstone.
Rosario was convicted of criminally negligent homicide for shaking 4-month-old Eric Santana so hard that the infant’s eyes bled.
Even if a judge gives Rosario the maximum when he’s sentenced Jan. 5, with good behavior he could be paroled after serving only 1 years in prison.
Manhattan prosecutor Donna Henkin had hoped the jury would convict him of murder, or at least manslaughter, which carry much more severe sentences.
Little Eric died on Super Bowl Sunday in January 1998 of fatal brain injuries.
Blackstone argued that the baby’s brain showed repeated trauma – some of it from before Rosario met the baby’s 17-year-old mother, Valerie Dominguez.