NY parents who starved 2-month-old daughter to death skirt jail time as activist judge sets them free

New York parents who pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the starvation death of their infant daughter will not serve any time behind bars. On Thursday, Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi sentenced Luis Gonzalez Jr., 26, and Kitrina Udrea, 23, both of Buffalo, to just five years of probation, according to the district attorney's office.

The defendants admitted that they "recklessly killed" their 2.5-month-old baby, Londyn Gonzalez, due to neglect. A medical examiner ruled Londyn's death as homicide by neglect caused due to malnutrition and dehydration.

Gonzalez and Udrea both pleaded guilty in May 2026.

According to court documents, police and paramedics responded to reports of an unresponsive child at an apartment in Cheektowaga on July 7, 2023. The victim was transported to the former Oishei Children's Hospital and was pronounced dead.

"The investigation determined that the defendants, while acting in concert with one another, recklessly caused the death of their infant daughter," the Eerie County DA's Office said in a press release.

Londyn was born at a healthy weight on April 20, 2023, weighing 6 lbs and 8 oz. At two follow up appointments in April and May 2023, a medical provider expressed concern about the baby's declining weight and instructed the defendants to increase the amount of formula and frequency of her feeds.

The defendants skipped the next appointment on May 8, 2023, and did not reschedule with any medical provider. Londyn died of malnutrition and dehydration, weighing 8 lbs and 4 oz at the time of her death.

"As we advised the court, this crime was not a brief lapse in judgement or a single poor decision, but the intentional withholding of nutrition for several weeks from their own baby," said DA Mike Keane in a press release. "The cries of their hungry newborn and the advice of medical professionals fell on deaf ears."

The manslaughter charge carries a maximum 15 years in prison. At sentencing, Judge Bargensi told Gonzalez and Udrea that their actions were "absolutely outrageous" and "absolutely inexcusable," according to a local paper. The judge, a Democrat, floated a potential one to three years of incarceration; however, he imposed a sentence of five years of probation, as well as credit for time served, instead. The couple had served 45 days in jail.