PASADENA >> A judge sentenced a Lancaster man who drowned his 1-year-old daughter in Pasadena to 25 years to life behind bars on Friday, officials said.
A Pasadena jury convicted Marquise Jackson, 26, last month of first-degree murder, along with child abuse resulting in death for the May 20, 2011, murder of his daughter, Mo’Mayjah Jackson.
He drowned the young girl in the apartment of the girl’s mother in the 100 block of West Del Mar Blvd. in Pasadena while she was away at work, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office spokesman Ricardo Santiago.
Shortly after his arrest, Jackson, who was 21 at the time, told police he killed the girl because he no longer wanted the responsibility of being a father, police said.
But he went on to deny the formal charges, and argued unsuccessfully that he was mentally unfit to stand trial.
The jury deliberated for less than one day before convicting Jackson, officials said.