Defendant cuts plea deal in baby’s ’01 death
By Zeke MacCormack - San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted: 09/02/2010 12:00 CDT
A Kerrville man accused of murdering his housemate's infant son nine years ago pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of injury to a child by omission under a plea deal that caps his possible sentence at 20 years.
A jury had been picked and testimony was slated to begin today in Steven Veselka's capital murder trial in Boerne until he and prosecutor Lucy Wilke struck the agreement, under which Veselka didn't admit harming Cheriko Ressler.
“I definitely consider this a victory, based on the evidence I had to work with for trial,” Wilke said.
Cheriko, the 22-month-old son of Rebecca Sturgis, died Oct. 14, 2001, two days after suffering head injuries in his trailer home in Bandera County.
Veselka claimed he awoke from a lengthy nap to find Cheriko injured and didn't know what had occurred, authorities say.
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