Babysitter found guilty in 2016 beating that killed 5-month-old Lancaster boy

A 31-year-old Palmdale woman was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on June 2 for a beating that killed the child under her care, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Brittany Ann Ingrassi  was found guilty May 9 of second-degree murder in the 2016 beating death of 5-month-old Aiden Matthew Lopez. 

Ingrassi also was found guilty of assault on a child becoming comatose, child abuse and assault on a child causing death.

The boy lived in a mobile home park with his parents in the 43400 block of Gadsden Avenue in Lancaster, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Eddie Hernandez. 

Ingrassi was a family friend who had been working as Aiden’s babysitter for about eight weeks, Hernandez said. The parents said there hadn’t been any problems prior to boy’s assault.

When the baby’s mother came home from work around 6 p.m. on March 22, 2016, Ingrassi met her at the door and told her the boy wasn’t breathing, Hernandez said. The mother called 911, and the baby was taken to a nearby hospital.

Prosecutors said Aiden suffered from skull fractures and a traumatic brain injury. He died at the hospital four days later, on March 26. 

Ingrassi’s attorney argued that the baby was attacked by the family dog when she left the room for a moment to use the bathroom, according to reports from CBS 2 news. 

However prosecutors presented evidence that Ingrassi was unhappy with her work as a babysitter and was under the influence of alcohol while she was watching the child. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.