"Stay-at-home" dad pleads guilty in death of 8-month-old daughter (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

So basically while Mom was defending her country, the "stay-at-home" (deadbeat) dad was killing the baby. I have no doubt that women can defend their country just fine. I do wonder how many men can manage to nurture a baby properly though.

Dad is identified as NICHOLAS PATRICK SMITH.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/child-139555-murder-first.html


Father pleads guilty in death of infant daughter

June 01, 2012 10:48 AM

LANCE BENZEL

THE GAZETTE

A stay-at-home father pleaded guilty Friday to child abuse resulting in the shaking death of his 8-month-old daughter.

In a quiet voice and with little outward emotion, 22-year-old Nicholas Patrick Smith admitted at a plea hearing Friday that he shook Elise Martinez-Mosley on Dec. 13. The girl was hospitalized with head injuries and died a month later, authorities said.

Smith faces 16 to 48 years in prison at his Aug. 10 sentencing before 4th Judicial District Judge Jann P. DuBois.

First-degree murder charges were dismissed as a result of the plea.

The case was one of 10 child deaths last year that spawned a multi-agency effort focused on preventing child abuse and offering help to struggling parents, District Attorney Dan May said after the hearing. May, who helped prosecute the case, said his office agreed to a plea bargain because of the difficulty of winning first-degree murder convictions in shaken-baby cases.

At least one recent defendant, George Peters, was acquitted of first-degree murder in a shaken-baby case and instead convicted of child abuse resulting in death, the same count to which Smith pleaded guilty Friday.

"We thought that based on what we're seeing from some of our juries, it was a fair disposition," May said.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Lead prosecutor Cory O'Neal said the 16- to 48-year sentencing range offered the judge latitude in selecting an appropriate sentence.

The child's mother, a Fort Carson soldier, didn't address the court.

Prosecutors said Smith took care of the child while the child's mother was at work. He was initially arrested on suspicion of child abuse but charges were upgraded to murder upon the girl's Dec. 14 death.