Man gets 15 to 30 years in Pa. infant’s death
NORRISTOWN (AP) – A suburban Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in the death of his infant son two years ago.
Jameel East, 24, of Lansdale had pleaded guilty in January in Montgomery County Court to third-degree murder and lying to authorities in the June 2011 death of three-month-old Enzo East.
Authorities said the defendant was frustrated after the child threw up on him, and he banged the infant’s head on a sink counter in the bathroom.
“I can only imagine the amount of force that had to be utilized to create the two wounds to the child’s head,” President Judge William Furber Jr. said during Wednesday’s sentencing.
Defense attorneys sought a lesser sentence, arguing that East wasn’t a “bad person” but didn’t have the parenting skills to handle the situation, The (Doylestown) Intelligencer said.
“No one is ever ready to care for a baby,” said Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman said. “It is something you learn as you go along. By actively taking a role in that baby’s life, you are telling that child you will take care of him, not hurt him.”