San Jose Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life for Fatal Blow to Infant Daughter

SAN JOSE — A South Bay man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday for the murder of his 8-month-old daughter, Raina, who died in July 2020 after he inflicted a fatal blow to her head. Jesse Manuel Figueroa, 36, of San Jose, was convicted in January in the death of Baby Raina.

According to a San Jose police affidavit, an autopsy found that Raina had been hit in the head with a punch or slap that caused her brain to dislodge and jostle within her skull while she was in Figueroa's sole care. The incident began on July 4, 2020, when Figueroa brought Raina to a fire station in a state of panic, with the infant unconscious and pink fluid running from her nose.

His mother attempted CPR, and Raina was taken to El Camino Hospital before being transferred to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto. There, medical staff noticed hand-shaped bruising near her left eye and a one-inch indentation on her left temple, along with brain swelling.

Raina died two days later, on July 6, 2020. Authorities used the timeline of the bruising to determine that only Figueroa could have caused the injuries, as they occurred when he had sole custody of Raina.

The police affidavit also detailed a history of domestic and family abuse by Figueroa, including an arrest for domestic violence three days before Raina was born and allegations that he forced Raina's siblings, then 3 and 2 years old, to kneel on rice. Figueroa was still subject to a protective order when the children's mother brought Raina and her sister to him for babysitting the day before the 911 call.

In a statement, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, "Raina would have been 6 years old today instead of a name on a murder case. Today, we can only feel some sense of justice that this man will never hurt another child." Raina's grandfather added, "Raina mattered.

She was not just a name in a case file. She was a baby who was deeply loved and who should still be here today."