Deliberations start in penalty phase of Palm Desert man who killed his baby daughter

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) –  Jury deliberations got underway today in the penalty phase of trial for a convicted felon who killed his year-old daughter and stabbed his pregnant wife during a child custody exchange in Indian Wells.   

Adam Slater, 53, of Palm Desert killed baby Madalyn in 2020 during an act of rage that included the severe assault on his estranged wife and a knife attack on a good Samaritan.

An Indio jury on March 5 convicted Slater of first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault on a child resulting in great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, child concealing, resisting arrest, a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a kidnapping and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and inflicting great bodily injury.

On Wednesday, the prosecution and defense completed closing arguments in the penalty trial at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling sent jurors behind closed doors in the afternoon, but no decision was reached. The panel is slated to resume deliberations Thursday.  

Slater is facing either capital punishment or life in prison without the possibility of parole. He's being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney's Office, in early 2020, the defendant and his wife, whose identity was not disclosed, separated, but the two shared custody of Madalyn. After keeping the year-old girl with him for an unspecified number of days, he and the tot's mother arranged to meet outside the Southwest Church on Washington Street in Indian Wells, where the woman was to retrieve the tot.  

After taking the girl from Slater and placing her in her vehicle, the defendant "suddenly attacked" the pregnant victim, the brief said.   

"He pushed her into her car, and she fell to the floorboard,'' the narrative stated. "The defendant stabbed her under her chin and abdomen with a serrated knife and punched her face. Good Samaritans began honking their horn to make noise to interrupt the assault, and the defendant grabbed Madalyn and placed her in his car and sped away."

With the knife still protruding from her stomach, the victim called 911 to report the assault and abduction.  

While he accelerated away from the church westbound, Slater called his roommate and told her he intended to commit suicide, then hung up, according to court papers.

Slater steered his car onto two-lane Highway 74, heading into the steep hills that mark the start of the San Bernardino National Forest, going in the direction of Pinyon Pines. The defendant stomped his accelerator and drove off a cliff into a ravine, where the vehicle overturned, prosecutors said.

A motorist witnessed the crash and immediately stopped on the shoulder of the highway, making his way to the bottom of the embankment, intending to help Slater and Madalyn, according to the prosecution.

"He rescued Madalyn from the vehicle and noted that she had a small bump on her head and was crying, but she was alert and breathing,'' the brief said. "He reached out to assist the defendant, but the defendant stabbed him in the arm and grabbed Madalyn from him.''

The man's shoulder was dislocated by the force of the child being ripped away from him.

"While holding Madalyn by one arm, the defendant stabbed her and
threw her further down into the ravine,'' court papers said.

The wounded man returned to the roadside to call 911, which other motorists were already doing while observing the defendant grabbing rocks and piling them up where Madalyn had been thrown, the brief said.   

Sheriff's deputies reached the location a short time later and spotted Slater still in the ravine. He attempted to run away from them but was quickly apprehended. They asked where he had put the baby, and Slater was evasive, saying only that he "messed up" and wanted "the death penalty," according to the brief.  

Deputies and California Highway Patrol officers soon discovered the rock pile, noticing hair sticking out from under it. They removed the pile and found Madalyn dead. An autopsy determined she had suffered "multiple stab wounds" to the upper body.

The baby's mother ultimately recovered from her injuries, as did the man who tried to save the tot.

Court papers said Slater has been a serial domestic abuser, victimizing three women prior to the 2020 attack. He was convicted in 1995 of forcible sexual penetration and served two years in state prison, after which he registered as a convicted sex offender.