Judge affirms death penalty in Rubidoux child-beating case

A judge declined to strike the death penalty Friday as a possible sentence in the case of a man accused of beating and torturing a 3-year-old boy who died from the injuries.

Alex Kermith Mendoza, 30, is scheduled to stand trial in Riverside Superior Court Friday on charges that he tortured and savagely beat Michael Vallejo-Seiber in 2005 in Rubidoux.

The child was Mendoza's girlfriend's son.