NEW YORK CITY – A New York City man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Tuesday for the 2016 beating death of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
“This was a senseless death of a helpless little boy who was left in the defendant’s care,” Gonzalez said. “There is no excuse ever, under any circumstances, for beating a child. Today’s sentence is a small measure of justice for Jaden and his devastated family.”
Jaden Jordan suffered severe head trauma and a fractured skull. Salvatore Lucchesse, who’d been babysitting the boy, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Jordan’s death.
Lucchesse told investigators Jordan slipped and fell, but the medical examiner later determined his injuries were inconsistent with an accident. Jordan was found unconscious, bleeding and covered with his own feces. He died after days in a coma.
His death set off criticism of the Administration for Children’s Services. Someone had called ACS before Jordan’s death and reported that the 3-year-old had suffered abuse. The person provided the wrong address and the ACS worker sent out to look into the report was unable to locate the boy, even though ACS had access to a database with Jordan’s address.
