Neighbor Says He Saw Father Striking Toddler Before Her Death

An 18-year-old Oxnard father accused of beating his 2-year-old daughter to death last spring struck the little girl on at least three occasions in the months before her death, a neighbor testified Thursday.

Vincent Nobile told a Superior Court judge that while he was walking along Pine Street in Oxnard, he sometimes saw Rogelio Hernandez hit his daughter, Joselin, and also strike his wife, Gabriela, outside the family’s produce store.

In one instance, Nobile said, he was standing just 4 feet away when he saw the father slap the toddler in the face to stop her from crying after putting her inside a parked car.

“She was crying for her mama--her grandma--and to quiet her, he smacked her,” Nobile testified during a hearing on whether the teenage parents should stand trial for murder.

Rogelio and Gabriela Hernandez are accused of inflicting the injuries that led to their child’s death in June.

Prosecutors say the 18-year-old parents abused Joselin and eventually killed her by hitting her with too much force in the stomach.

The parents also face seven charges of felony child abuse for allegedly striking and burning Joselin in the months before her death.

During the couple’s two-week preliminary hearing, which is expected to be completed today, family members and other witnesses have testified to seeing mysterious scratches, burns and cuts on the toddler’s body before she died.

But so far, Nobile is the only witness to say he saw the child being injured.

His accusations were targeted only at Rogelio Hernandez. “I have never heard of Gabriela hitting the baby,” Nobile testified.

Over a six-month period--in late 1995 and early 1996--Nobile said he could recall three occasions in which he observed Rogelio Hernandez hitting his daughter.

The blows were inflicted outside the family’s market, at least twice while Rogelio Hernandez was putting the child inside a car, Nobile said.

He added that he vaguely remembered other instances when he saw the father hit the child.

Nobile was the first of the 16 people who have testified to say he also saw Rogelio strike his wife, Gabriela.

Later during Thursday’s hearing, a family friend, Nora Castillo, testified that she went to the produce store a few times a week to check on Joselin because she was suspicious about the child’s injuries.

Last spring, Joselin looked thin and unhealthy, Castillo said. The child often clung to her mother, she testified.

“She was always with her mom, against her mom, wanting to be held,” Castillo said. “She was losing a lot of weight. I could see it in her eyes that she wasn’t well. I could see that she needed help.”