Jury finds father guilty of second-degree murder in baby’s death

Nearly a decade after 11-month-old Bradley Dingman died of injuries suffered in an arson fire in Apple Valley, a jury found his father guilty of second-degree murder.

Lucas Noble Dingman, 36, a former Apple Valley resident, was found guilty on Friday in Superior Court in Victorville. He is scheduled for sentencing on May 6, court documents show.

After the fire, Dingham moved to Iowa. He was arrested there in 2015 and extradited to California, where he pleaded not guilty to murder.

During court proceedings, DIngham remained at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, with bail set at $1 million.

‘Justice for Bradley’

Brittany Sorenson, who babysat Bradley for nearly nine months, was in tears when she told The Daily Press that the jury’s verdict meant “justice for Bradley.”

“I hope he gets the maximum sentence for what he did to Bradley,” said Sorenson on Friday night. “I hope this low life will spend the rest of his days in prison.”

Sorenson, 30, described Bradley as one of the “happiest” babies she’d ever seen, full of life and very active.

“My 2-year-old daughter would get down on the floor and crawl and play with Bradley,” Sorenson said. “She would call him ‘Handsome Bradley’ and he would follow her everywhere.”

Sorenson said Bradley’s death left her traumatized, the main reason she moved out of state.

“To hold and care for Bradley then know that he suffered and died was too much for me to handle,” said Sorenson, who created a “Remembering Handsome Bradley” Facebook page nearly seven years ago.

The fire

In the early hours of May 20, 2011, sheriff’s deputies and the Apple Valley Fire Protection District responded to an apartment fire in the 20300 block of Broken Bow Road, sheriff’s officials said.

The neighborhood, mostly filled with apartments, is located north of Highway 18 and east of Rancherias Road.

Witnesses told authorities that Dingman and his girlfriend, Bradley’s…