In February, a 15-year-old teenager killed his newborn son by bashing his head into a wall. Initially, the teen was charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. Now he has been sentenced to 10-years detention at a juvenile facility but will mostly likely be released in five years.
Tragically, the 25-day-old newborn suffered two skull fractures and died nine days after the incident at Princess Margaret Hospital in Canada. A medical expert said the baby’s injuries were “the most severe head injuries” she had ever seen in an infant. At the time of the incident, the teen was under the care of the Department for Child Protection (DCP).
According to ABC News, the teen had a previous criminal record which included throwing a knife at his girlfriend that injured an innocent bystander. Judge Denis Reynolds, who served as the president of the Children’s court, said it was “surprising” that the teenager was not supervised by an adult considering his upbringing. He told the teen that his actions were “cowardly in the extreme” and that the case was at the “upper end of seriousness.” Additionally, Judge Reynolds said the baby was “defenseless” and “at the mercy” of the teenager.
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The teen’s attorney, Jim Sutherland, said the perpetrators childhood was chaotic and marred by substance abuse and aggression, which is why his conduct shouldn’t be considered “normalized.” Sutherland said, “He was very much a product of those influences.
However, the teen’s mother disagreed and said the crime occurred because of DCP. She said, “DCP took my son off me at 12 years of age, and there was no neglect. Since they took him, he had a criminal record and look where my son is now. And there was no duty of care with Bunbury hospital. He was supposed to be supervised in a locked ward, how did this happen?
She added, “DCP did not do their job… and [neither] did Bunbury hospital.”
The prosecutor on the case, Matthew Walton, said the youth had given no explanation for why he killed his son and even suggested that it was accident or that the hospital staff were responsible. He also said he believed the murder occurred because the teen was jealous of the attention the child was getting from his mother. He said, “That jealousy was stemming from the attention being drained away from him, to his newborn son.”
