Sergio Casian Aguilar, 27 - fatally shot by an officer for refusing to stop beating a toddler to death

[The Kentucky Wizard]

TURLOCK, California (AP) -- Police on Monday identified a man who was
fatally shot by an officer for allegedly refusing to stop beating a
toddler to death along a remote road.

Sergio Casian Aguilar, 27, parked his truck on an unlit road Saturday
night, removed a 2-year-old boy from his car seat and proceeded to
stomp, kick and punch the boy to death, authorities said. The boy was
unrecognizable when he was pronounced dead at Emanuel Medical Center,
the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said.

Authorities have not released the boy's name but say they believe he
was Aguilar's son. The Stanislaus County coroner and the California
Department of Justice are testing DNA to confirm the relationship.

Several motorists called 911 and tried to stop the beating,
authorities said.

Dan Robinson, a local volunteer fire department chief, told The
Modesto Bee that at first glance, he thought the child was a dead
animal in the road. He said when he realized it was a child, he tried
to stop Aguilar.

He said Aguilar had a "total hollowness in his eyes" and talked
calmly of the boy being filled with "demons."

Witness Lisa Mota told the San Francisco Chronicle that Aguilar told
people who tried to stop him that the boy was "trash."

Responding to 911 calls, a Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department
helicopter landed in a dairy pasture near the scene. A Modesto police
officer, Jerry Ramar, fatally shot Aguilar after he failed to heed the
officer's warning to stop beating the child, authorities said. Aguilar
flashed his middle finger at Ramar before Ramar shot him in the
forehead, police said.

"I have never seen anything like that before and I hope I never have
to again," Ramar said of the beating.

Authorities have not released the name of the boy's mother.

Aguilar had no previous criminal history, police said. Results of
toxicology tests on Aguilar are expected in four weeks.

Ramar has been placed on paid administrative leave, a routine response
for officer-involved shootings.