Inwood Man Who Pleaded Guilty To Murdering His 2-Month-Old Daughter Sentenced To 21-To-Life, DA Says

MINEOLA, NY — An Inwood man was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to the March 2025 murder of his then-two-month-old daughter, prosecutors said.

The Nassau County District Attorney’s office said 21-year-old Marlon Rabanales Pretzantzin pleaded guilty on March 31 to second-degree murder stemming from a March 7, 2025 incident in which he was home along with his then-14-month-old son and his two-month-old daughter, Liseyda Rabanales-Barrios.

In that incident, prosecutors said Rabanales Pretzantzin slapped his infant daughter in the face, pushed her in the stomach and shook her violently before dropping her onto a bed and pressing her down with his body weight until she became unresponsive.

After a neighbor called 911 to report the unresponsive child, Liseyda was taken to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital and then to Cohen Children’s Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, prosecutors said. She had suffered contusions to her head, several rib fractures, severe hemorrhaging to her neck and two dislocated vertebrae, prosecutors said.

Her father was arrested five days later, on March 12, 2025, and charged with second-degree murder, prosecutors said. While the DA’s office said it had recommended a sentence of 24 years to life, the minimum on his sentence sits at 21 years after Thursday’s sentencing.

“This sentencing is a somber conclusion to a case defined by unimaginable cruelty,” District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “Little Liseyda represented the very essence of innocence, and she deserved nothing less than the protection of her father. Instead, the defendant met her vulnerability with a level of violence that is difficult to put into words. He failed her and his duty as her father. My office stands firm in our commitment to seeking justice for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

Rabanales Pretzantzin’s attorney, Mindy Plotkin, could not be reached for comment on this story.