An Inwood man pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering his two-month-old daughter, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced following the March 31 court appearance.
Marlon Rabanales Pretzantzin, 21, admitted to second-degree murder in the death of his infant daughter, Liseyda Rabanales-Barrios. He is scheduled to return to court on May 7, where he faces sentencing of 21 years to life in prison.
According to Donnelly, the assault took place on March 7, 2025, at a home on Maple Road in Inwood. Pretzantzin was alone with his two children, a 14-month-old son and the two-month-old Liseyda, when he slapped the infant in the face and repeatedly punched her in the stomach. He then picked her up and shook her violently.
Donnelly said Pretzantzin also dropped the child from a standing position onto a bed and pressed his body weight down onto her.
When Liseyda became unresponsive, Pretzantzin brought her to a neighboring apartment. The neighbor called 911, and emergency responders took the infant first to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital and later to Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The medical findings detailed by prosecutors paint a devastating picture of the violence the infant suffered. Liseyda sustained contusions to the head, several rib fractures, severe hemorrhaging in the neck area, and a dislocated C5 and C6 vertebrae.
Nassau County police arrested Pretzantzin on March 12, 2025. Pretzantzin, who is originally from Guatemala, had been living in Inwood at the time of the crime.
“The familiar cries of a newborn are an ordinary part of early parenthood, but this defendant wanted his 2-month-old to stop by whatever means necessary, including violence,” Donnelly said after the guilty plea was entered.
The case draws renewed attention to infant safety and the vulnerabilities facing very young children in domestic settings. Babies in their first months of life are particularly susceptible to injury from shaking and blunt force trauma, conditions sometimes referred to collectively under the umbrella of abusive head trauma. Medical professionals and child welfare advocates consistently note that infant crying, while difficult for stressed caregivers, is a normal developmental behavior that cannot be controlled through force.
Resources for parents and caregivers struggling with the demands of a newborn are available through Nassau County’s Department of Social Services, as well as through organizations like the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and Family and Children’s Association, both of which provide crisis support and parenting programs across the county.
Donnelly’s office has prosecuted a number of child abuse cases in recent years, and the DA has been vocal about the office’s commitment to protecting the county’s youngest and most vulnerable residents. The guilty plea in this case avoids what would have been a difficult trial, sparing the victim’s family from having to sit through extensive testimony about the details of her death.
Liseyda was two months old.
Her sentencing date of May 7 will mark the next public proceeding in the case. Pretzantzin’s expected sentence of 21 years to life means he would not be eligible for parole consideration until his early 40s at the earliest, under standard New York State guidelines.