The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review the case of a man convicted of his year-old daughter's drowning death in Pasadena eight years ago.
Marquise Jackson was found guilty in July 2016 of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death in connection with the May 20, 2011, drowning of his daughter, Mo'Nayjah.
The child was not breathing when police and firefighters were called to the 100 block of West Del Mar Boulevard. Rescue workers unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate her.
Jackson drowned the child while her mother was at work, and subsequently confessed to the killing, according to police and prosecutors.
The godmother of the baby's mother -- who had been staying with the family for a week -- testified that Jackson told her that he didn't want a baby and was not ready to be a father, according to a state appellate court panel's April 24 ruling that upheld his conviction.
Jackson did not return to the apartment, call the baby's mother or attend the girl's funeral two weeks later, the appellate court panel noted in its 14-page ruling.
He subsequently told police in an August 2011 interview at his aunt's home in Lancaster that it was an accident before admitting that he put the baby's head underwater.
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The appellate court panel's April ruling noted that when asked what made him drown his daughter, Jackson told investigators, "It was just stuff building up, you know. I -- I had a baby and nothing going right for me, like I can't provide for her. I couldn't do nothing I wanted to do, period ... So it was just like a burden."
Jackson was sentenced in August 2016 to 25 years to life in state prison.
