Towamencin, Pa. Man Gets 15-30 Years For Killing Infant Son
By Brad Segall
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- A Montgomery County judge has sentenced a 25-year-old man to at least 15 years in state prison for murdering his infant son two years ago in his Towamencin home, and then lying to police to try to cover up his actions.
The defense tried to mitigate the sentence with testimony from a psychologist who told the court that Jameel East had intellectual disabilities and may have been ill-equipped to care for his three-month-old son (see previous story).
But the judge said East knew right from wrong, sentencing him to 15-30 years behind bars on the third-degree murder charge.
Montgomery County prosecutor Samantha Cauffman says no amount of challenging circumstances can excuse his behavior:
"It doesn't matter how stressed, how frustrated, how sick in this case that child is, it's never an excuse to throw it against a wall like this man did, to bang his head against a sink."
The cause of death was blunt cerebral trauma.
The child's mother dropped their son off at East's home, and he was caring for the sick child alone for the first time since he was born.
The defense is considering whether to file a motion to reconsider the sentence.
