Mother Pushed 7-Month-Old Son To Death From Fourth Story Hospital Parking, Convicted

A 41-year-old Southern California woman who pushed her 7-month-old son to his death from the fourth story of a hospital parking garage was convicted by a jury on Wednesday, Aug.11.

According to a statement from the Orange County district attorney's office, the mother, identified as Sonia Hermosillo, of La Habra, was convicted of one felony count of first-degree murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death.

The same jury will also determine whether Hermosillo was legally insane when she pushed her son, Noe Medina Jr. from the parking structure of an Orange County Children’s Hospital on Aug. 22, 2011.

"He was sick, and his mother didn’t want him," prosecutor Mena Guirguis told jurors at the trial. "She made a cold-hearted decision to kill her child."

According to trial testimony, Hermosillo had been struggling with mental health issues after the birth of her son. The boy was born with congenital muscular torticollis and had to make regular visits to the hospital for treatments.

However, no appointments were scheduled on the day of the incident when Hermosillo drove her son to the hospital and parked her car on the fourth floor of a parking structure.

She then took off a medical helmet that the boy had been wearing to correct his plagiocephaly before pushing him from the building, prosecutors said.

"Hermosillo then walked inside the hospital, validated her parking, and drove away," the DA's statement said.

Police responded to the scene after a witness who saw the baby falling called 911.

The boy was rushed to the trauma center at the UC Irvine Medical Center in critical condition. He died two days later.

Hermosillo was arrested hours after her husband, Noe Medina, called the police and reported that his wife and daughter had been missing.

After the arrest, Hermosillo told police that she had "hate, resentment and anger" toward the boy "because he’s sick," authorities said.

Hermosillo’s husband told police that his wife had been hospitalized at that time for depression and was not allowed to be alone with the baby.

The child actually was getting better, defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman on Wednesday, the Orange County Register reported.

During the police interview, Hermosillo repeated "I don't love him" dozens of times, the attorney said.

"That is not a confession. It is mental illness," Goodman said.

Hermosillo had entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The sanity trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 24.

If found sane, she could be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.