Man, 29, who beat girlfriend's son, 2, to death because he wet his pants given life without parole

By Rachel Quigley

PUBLISHED: 08:50 EST, 14 September 2012 | UPDATED: 09:07 EST, 14 September 2012

A 29-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for beating his girlfriend's two-year-old son to death because he wet his pants.

Wilfredo Reyes, from Tampa, Florida, punched Yandel Martinez in the stomach before putting him in the closet for 30 minutes for a 'time out'.

Reyes tried to defend himself in court yesterday by saying he did it because the toddler was pestering his sister and had wet his pants.

Life in prison: Wilfredo Reyes, from Florida, punched Yandel Martinez in the stomach before putting him in the closet for 30 minutes for a 'time out'

When paramedics arrived after the child later collapsed, Reyes told them he had fallen down the stairs, rather than give them the correct information which could have saved his life.

He told police after much coercion that he had inadvertently struck the child hard in the stomach.

When handing out the life sentence, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett Battles said: 'How helpless this two-year-old was, how unimaginable his pain.

'The sentence will fit this crime.'

As well as the first-degree murder sentence, the judge added a consecutive 30-year prison term for aggravated child abuse.

Murder: An autopsy of Yandel's 2010 death revealed he had a number of other injuries, including bruises under his scalp on his groin and penis

In his defense, Reyes said he didn't mean to hit the child hard enough to rupture blood vessels in his stomach, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

'I didn't think it was because of me the baby died,' he told jurors yesterday.

'At the moment the cops showed up, my state of mind was that he fell down the stairs.'

An autopsy of the toddler's 2010 death revealed he had a number of other injuries, including bruises under his scalp, on his groin and his penis, which Harmon said were punishment for failing potty training.

Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon asked Reyes if he could feel or hear the blood sloshing inside his body. Reyes said he did not.

Prosecutor Harmon told jurors that Reyes misled paramedics trying to revive Yandel, never telling them that the child had been hit in the stomach with enough force to make him vomit.

'He stood by in the last seconds of this little boy's life and lied to people trying to save him,' Harmon said.