Porterville Man Convicted of Murdering Baby Son

Late this afternoon in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Gary Paden presiding, a jury convicted Joseph Ulloa, age 33, of Porterville, of the second-degree murder and assault on a child resulting in death of his 3-month-old son Jackson.

In the morning hours of September 23, 2010, Joseph Ulloa, wanting to go back to bedafter the baby’s mother went to work, shook the baby and threw him on the bed andcouch in their apartment numerous times. Ulloa then strapped the baby in a bouncing chair and went back to sleep. During this time, the baby went in to full cardiac arrest and suffered severe bi-lateral retinal hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhages in the brain, a traumatic brain injury, and two posterior fractured ribs. After Ulloa awoke, he took the unresponsive baby to a neighbor, who called 911. The baby remained on a ventilator atValley Children’s Hospital until he passed on October 14, 2010.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 6, 2019, in Department 6 where Ulloa faces 25 years-to-life in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Supervising Deputy District Attorney Brenda Broker with assistance from District Attorney Paralegal Patty Wager and was investigated by former Detective Matthew Green the Porterville Police Department as well as Criminal Investigator Mario Martin of the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations.

Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Assistant District Attorney Robert Dempsie (559) 636-5494