Parole Denied for 2000 Death of Nine Month Old
On September 2, 2026, via video conference, TCDA prosecutors secured a 3-year denial of parole for Felix Madrigal, age 51. Madrigal is currently serving a life sentence at California State Prison, Corcoran, after being convicted of killing a 9-month-old baby in early 2000.
According to law enforcement records, at approximately 8:35 in the morning on February 15, 2000, the baby girl’s mother, who was in a dating / live-in relationship with Madrigal, found the infant cold and non-responsive in her bed at their home in Dinuba. When first responders arrived, the child was determined to be deceased. Deputies on the scene discovered several bite marks on the victim. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be bilateral subdural hematomas and swelling of the brain caused by repetitive slapping and hitting.
Madrigal, who was not the child’s father, admitted the abuse in a series of interviews with law enforcement.
At trial in 2006, a Tulare County jury convicted Madrigal of second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and corporal injury to a child. He was sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison.
This was Madrigal’s first parole hearing after a series of stipulations and waivers since he became eligible for release in 2021. The Office of the District Attorney regularly attends life parole hearings and a deputy district attorney argued against the inmate’s release in this case.
Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Chief Deputy District Attorney Dave Alavezos (559) 636-5494