Anybody who knows Danny knows he would not hurt his baby. Police and the county District Attorney's Office argue otherwise. Mariah Claudine Leon died four days before her first birthday. Daniel Leon sits behind bars on felony charges of child abuse resulting in death and three counts of child abuse with great bodily injury. On Tuesday, a day after his arrest, he pleaded not guilty.
Police say the baby had been, essentially, shaken to death.
Both sides agree that on Jan. 14, Daniel Leon was alone with his daughter, watching Mariah while her mother was in Las Vegas visiting family she hadn't seen in years. That's where the agreement ends. Danny went to pick her up, and she wasn't breathing any more. He shook her to get her to start breathing again. Crystal Leon said her husband frantically tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, taking instructions from a 911 dispatcher.