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San Jose Man Sentenced To Life For Killing Girlfriend's Son

SAN JOSE (KCBS) --- A San Jose man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to murdering his girlfriend's young son.

Samuel Corona, 37, punched and stomped six-year-old Oscar Jimenez to death in front of his mother, Kathryn Jimenez. 

Kathryn Jimenez
Kathryn Jimenez (Santa Clara Co. Sheriff's Dept.)

Corona began dating Kathryn Jiminez in November 2006 and lived with Jiminez and her son. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said that within weeks after moving in, Corona verbally and physically abused the child.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

"In my five years of prosecuting murder cases, this was one of the most disturbing cases that I ever handled," said Rosen. "Whenever I think about the last few minutes of Oscar Jimenez's life, it makes me very, very sad."

The boy's body was found buried in an abandoned apartment complex in Phoenix, Arizona.

Rosen said because of the mother's involvement with disposing of the body, he decided it might be difficult to get a death penalty verdict from a jury and instead decided to go for life in prison without parole. The Kathryn Jimenez has been sentenced to one year in the county jail.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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