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closeA manslaughter charge was filed Friday against a Santa Maria man accused of killing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son by burying him in sand at the Oceano Dunes on July 4.
Juan Francisco Nunez, 24, was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangerment causing great bodily injury, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Jerret Gran. If convicted, Nunez faces up to 11 years in prison.
He is being held at County Jail on a parole hold, jail officials said. Nunez allegedly covered the face of Jesse Alvarez while playing in the sand with the child and his mother at the Dunes, according to investigators.
Rescuers tried to revive the child after he lost consciousness, but he was pronounced dead at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital about an hour later.
Nunez is expected to be arraigned on the charges Monday.
—Leslie Parrilla
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