Separate juries found a Corona mother and her boyfriend guilty of all charges in connection with the 2009 murder of her 2 1/2-year-old son, the verdicts were announced on Monday, January 12th and Tuesday, the 13th, in Riverside County Superior Court. The mother Belinda Magana, 29, and her boyfriend, Naresh “Michael” Narine, 42, were convicted of first degree murder, torture, mayhem and assault on a child, causing death, and additional enhancements involving torture and mayhem that make the defendants eligible for the death penalty as well. Toddler Malachi Magana suffered several scalding injuries from his head to his buttocks that were left untreated, with the exception of the diaper ointment, and endured punishment from both defendants who tried to quiet his cries that disturbed them over the next five days, according to witness testimony. Experts concluded blunt force trauma to his head and complications of the burn injuries contributed to his death. According to the court records, both defendants gave statements to law enforcement that incriminated themselves and each other, so separate juries were impaneled for each defendant. The mother jury will begin hearing all the evidence in the penalty phase Thursday, Jan. 15, and Narine’s jury is likely to return to hear testimony in the penalty phase Jan. 20 or Jan. 21, according to John Hall, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office spokesman. According to the juries they will recommend punishments of life in prison without possibility of parole or the death penalty to Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz. After the toddler’s death, the toddler’s body was stuffed into a trash bag that day, May 9, 2009, and stored on the floor of the car so the couple and older child could attend a party in Apple Valley. After the party, they drove to the Lytle Creek foothills, where Magana (the mother) claimed she stayed in the vehicle while Narine (the boyfriend) buried the toddler boy. The next day, Mother’s Day, they concocted a story that Malachi went missing from a Corona park. Under questioning by Corona police, Magana admitted the boy was dead and led police to his grave.

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