Man pleads guilty to punching child

A man charged with slugging his 3-year-old son in the chest pleaded no contest to assault charges in Glenn County Superior Court.

Jose Luis Martinez entered his plea on Thursday, nearly four months after his son was hospitalized after a blow to the chest stopped the child’s heart, court and investigation records state.

The child, Christopher Solis-Martinez, recovered from the injury, authorities said.

Martinez, 24, pleaded to one felony count of inflicting corporal injury upon a child.

Glenn County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Glenn Medical Center in Willows just  before 5 p.m. on May 11 where they were informed the child had suffered cardiac arrest.

Authorities said Martinez reportedly became angry when the child would not stop crying.

The boy was struck once in the chest, causing blunt force trauma, the sheriff’s office reported.

Authorities first sought charges of attempted murder, but prosecutors said there was no evidence that Martinez intended to kill his son.

The child’s mother, Nalley Martinez, 20, was present during the reported incident, but was never considered a suspect and cooperated fully with investigators, authorities said.

Martinez faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison and a $6,000 fine. He remains in custody at the Glenn County Jail on a no-bail immigration hold.

Martinez will be sentenced Oct. 22 in Superior Court in Willows.