Navarro guilty in 2005 child murder

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Pedro Navarro was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2005 death 2-year-old Aiyana Cisneros.

Navarro was arrested in March after a woman he had children with in 2009, Chyann Gonzalez, told police that Navarro admitted to abusing Aiyanna the day she died. That new information was enough for detectives to get a warrant to arrest Navarro for felony murder.

The jury received the case late Thursday afternoon, began deliberations and then broke for the night. They returned to deliberate Friday morning and returned the verdict around 10:30 a.m.

He will be sentenced September 4.

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He's on trial for felony murder -- accused of killing Aiyanna while abusing her. 

When Gonzalez got on the stand during the murder trial, she said she did not remember saying that to police.

Navarro's defense attorney Paul McDonagh said during closing arguments that he doesn't believe Gonzalez's testimony is credible. He stated the the police detective who interviewed Gonzalez was focused only on the fact that he was "on the brink of solving a seven-year-old murder case."

McDonagh went on to imply that the detective influenced Gonzalez's testimony.  

An autopsy determined Aiyana died from "blunt force trauma" to her abdomen and chest, which caused internal bleeding. A medical examiner testified during the course of the trial that Aiyanna had 30 broken bones and a punctured lung at the time of her death.

"Ladies and gentleman, I'll say it once, I'll say it again: How can anyone say this child was not the victim of child abuse?" said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Helen  Brinkman.

McDonagh told jurors that Aiyanna's mother Samantha Winkler was responsible for her daughter's death and not his client.

Winkler is currently serving 60 years in prison for the second-degree murder of her daughter. She pleaded guilty to the charge several years ago, admitting that she was negligent and should have done more to protect her daughter.  

Winkler testified that she believed Navarro abused her daughter.