Omaha teen who shook his 3-month-old son is convicted in his death

Omaha teen who shook his 3-month-old son is convicted in his death
Missael Valadez

Almost 3 months old, little Sebastian Valadez wouldn’t stop crying on Aug. 25, 2017.

He cried so much that he woke up his 18-year-old father, Missael Valadez. So Valadez yelled at Sebastian, then shook him. “Rather hard,” he later told police.

After 90 seconds (Valadez’s estimate), the boy stopped crying. Valadez called his girlfriend, Sebastian’s mother, telling her that the baby was unresponsive. The girlfriend called 911, summoning officers to the family’s home at 4538 S. 18th St.

Omaha police found the baby, essentially brain-dead. He died after being taken off life-support a few days later.

For that, Valadez pleaded no contest this week to child abuse resulting in death. Judge Marlon Polk declared him guilty — and set sentencing for March.

Prosecutor Beth Beninato, a deputy Douglas County attorney, said the child suffered from severe bleeding in his brain and behind his eyes. His cause of death was blunt-force trauma — indicating that Valadez slammed the child against a hard object.

Valadez’s relatives have said he is not a violent person. A sister told The World-Herald that he “loved his son — he was always holding him.”

Omaha police Detective William Seaton had testified in an earlier hearing that he listened to several recordings of jailhouse phone calls between Valadez and the mother of his child.

In one call, the girlfriend asked him: “Why did you do it? How many times have I told you not to do that?”

Valadez responded: “I get frustrated sometimes. I didn’t know I would hurt him.”

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