A 24-year-old man in Colorado will spend multiple decades behind bars for killing his former girlfriend’s 9-month-old daughter, beating the infant to death just over three years ago. A state judge in Denver on Friday ordered Cain Gallardo to serve a sentence of 40 years in a state correctional facility for the 2020 slaying of young Gianna Rosales, authorities announced.
The sentence was handed down after a jury on Oct. 16 found Gallardo guilty on one count of child abuse knowingly/recklessly resulting in death, according to a news release from the Denver District Attorney’s Office. The judge credit Gallardo with about 2 1/2 years of time already served.
Cain Gallardo (Denver Police Dept.)
In a previous release, the Denver Police Department said the investigation into Gallardo began when Rosales was brought to the Denver Health Medical Center on Aug. 3, 2020, with a spate of serious injuries. The child succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead one day after arriving at the facility.
An autopsy performed by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner determined that Rosales’ manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries, particularly to the infant’s head.
After several months of extensive investigation by the DPD Homicide Unit and the medical examiner’s office, authorities determined that Gallardo — described as “the boyfriend of Gianna’s mother” — was arrested on May 4, 2021, and charged with child abuse resulting in death.
The victim’s father, Anthony Rosales, reportedly told Denver NBC affiliate KUSA that he suspected Gallardo may have been abusing his daughter, and even reported him to the Wheat Ridge Police Department after finding a bruise on her face. Officers reportedly spoke with Anthony Rosales and the victim’s mother, Jolene Beyer-LaCrue, about the alleged abuse on July 18, 2020.
According to the report, Rosales and Jolene Beyer-LaCrue blamed each other for the bruising on their daughter’s face. Investigators said they could not establish sufficient probable cause to arrest anybody for the alleged abuse. The officers who spoke with the parents referred the case to the Colorado Department of Human Services’ Office of Children, Youth, and Families
Two weeks later, Gianna Rosales was dead.
Beyer-LaCrue was also arrested in connection with her daughter’s untimely death and charged with one count of child abuse resulting in death. Her criminal trial is currently scheduled to begin on Feb. 12, 2024.
Jolene LaCrue (Denver Police Dept.)
Denver ABC affiliate KMGH reported that more than 30 members of Rosales’ family came to court on Friday to watch the sentencing hearing, many of whom were wearing shirts that read “Justice for Gianna.”
“When my baby died, we died. We’re still living, but we’re dead. We’re all dead inside,” Anthony Rosales reportedly told the station.
He also reportedly said that he and his family were hoping that Gallardo would be given the maximum sentence of 48 years in prison.
“It’s not the justice we want,” he said. “It just shows that it isn’t that hard to be a parent. And it isn’t that hard to get your daughter to safety. It isn’t hard to keep your daughter safe. You know, and that’s the big problem about this issue is they didn’t keep her safe. And she’s gone.”
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