Joplin Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Girlfriend’s Son

A Joplin man has pleaded guilty to killing a 3-year old boy more than a year ago, and will spend the next 22 years in prison. 22-year-old Leonard Valdez made a deal in Jasper County Court Thursday pleading guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Jonathan Munoz-Bilbrey in November 2017. Valdez was babysitting the boy while his girlfriend, who is also the boy’s mother, was at work. According to court documents, Valdez took Jonathan to the hospital saying he was sick on November 10th. The child was then transported to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City where he died of due to a severe head injury on November 12th. Under the plea deal, a child abuse charge was dropped.