Tekquan Alexander sentenced to life in prison for beating his four-year-old daughter into a vegetative state

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – On Friday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Tekquan Alexander was sentenced to life in state prison for beating his four-year-old daughter into a vegetative state.

Alexander was convicted by a jury on Nov. 12 of three felony counts including torture, assault on a child causing a comatose state, and corporal injury to a child and the jury also found true all of the following special allegations and aggravating factors:

• CRC 4.421(a)(2)-Defendant was Armed with and Used a Weapon
• CRC 4.421(a)(3)-Victim was Vulnerable
• CRC 4.421(a)(11)-Defendant Took Advantage of a Position of Trust
• PC 12022.7(d)-Great Bodily Injury of a Child Under the Age of Five

During the week of Thanksgiving in 2021, Alexander repeatedly punched and beat then-four-year-old Alani with a belt stated a press release from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

On Nov. 29, 2021, Alexander assaulted her with a belt and then a stereo amplifier cable after she went to bed and continued to beat her until she became unresponsive in the bathroom of their Thousand Oaks home detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Alani was transported to a local hospital and then airlifted to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles where she was diagnosed with critical injuries, including a brain injury, subdural hematoma, spinal compression, bone fractures, and numerous contusions and abrasions explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Alexander was arrested and, after an investigation, experts testified during his trial that Alani's injuries were consistent with abusive head trauma shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

As of the current date over three years after the incident in November of 2021, Alani remains paralyzed and in a vegetative state and she is reliant on round-the-clock medical care and support for her most basic functions added the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

"Today is Alani's birthday and, while no punishment can undo the lifetime of challenges she will face, her family knowing her perpetrator could spend his life behind bars is a small gift of justice," said Deputy District Attorney Rikole Kelly who prosecuted the case.