A 23-year-old man was sentenced to more than 40 years in prison on Tuesday in the 20th Judicial District Court for severely injuring a 2-year-old and assaulting a pregnant woman in 2019. 

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Cristian Hernandez previously pleaded guilty to first-degree assault with extreme indifference, second-degree assault – bodily injury with a deadly weapon and domestic assault – injury to a pregnant woman as part of a plea agreement made in January.

With the agreement, multiple charges including attempted murder were dropped, according to the Longmont Times-Call.

Hernandez will serve 32 years for first-degree assault in prison and an additional 10 years for assault on a pregnant woman that will run in conjuncition to another assault charge. 

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The charges stemmed from a Sept. 3, 2019 incident where Hernandez was seen carrying the body of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter from the Lamplighter Motel in Longmont.

Hernandez told investigators and medical professionals that she had fallen from the bed and resulted in compression fractures of her spine, two skull fractures, subdural hemorrhages and retinal hemorrhages. 

Medical professionals dispute Hernandez claim and stated “the force used to cause the brain injury suffered by her is what would occur with a fall from a two-story building or after being hit in the head with a baseball bat swung at full speed,” according to a release from the 20th Judicial District Attorney.

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During the medical examination the girl was found to have bruising all over her body that was associated to extensive physical abuse.

Investigators learned that Hernandez had been abusing his girlfriend and two-year-old daughter for several weeks before the incident on Sept. 3.

“The 42 year prison sentence to be served by Mr. Hernandez is the appropriate punishment for him considering the heinous crimes he committed and the life-threatening injuries he inflicted on a toddler,” said Chief Trial Deputy District Attorney Adam Kendall and Deputy District Attorney Breck Roesch in a joint-statement.

District Attorney Michael Dougherty shared similar sentiment in a statement.

“With today’s sentence, this man is being held fully responsible for the injuries and the trauma he inflicted on the victim,” Dougherty said. 

“This sentence reflects the horrific nature of his conduct. I am grateful to the prosecution team for their tireless efforts and advocacy in this difficult case.”