XAVIER SIFUENTES - 9 months (2008) - Brighton/Denver CO

A 21-year-old father, accused of
severely shaking his 9-month-old child, was found guilty today of
reckless child abuse resulting in death.
Adams County prosecutors contended that Jesse Sifuentes became
frustrated by the continuous crying of his son, Xavier, who was
teething.
The baby sustained severe injuries including severed nerves in his
brain, spinal nerve root hemorrhages, clotted blood in the brain and
eyes and bruising to the right ear and arm.
Sifuentes will be sentenced March 31 and faces a sentence from 16 to 48 years.
On May 25, 2008, the baby was airlifted from a Thornton residence by
Flight for Life to Children's Hospital where he died a couple of days
later.
The case was tried by prosecutors Sarah Collins and David Goddard.
Collins said she understands when parents become upset with crying
babies. However, they have a duty to protect the child, she said.
Here, said Collins, Sifuentes had the option to place Xavier in a crib in another room where he would have been safe.
During the trial, experts testified that the injuries suffered by
the 9-month-old were not consistent with accidental shaking or the
result of negligence.
Defense lawyers contended the baby was accidentally shaken while
Sifuentes was running with the child with his head unsupported.

BRIGHTON, Colo. -- A father has been convicted
of killing his 9-month-old son by shaking the baby so severely it
severed the nerves in his brain stem, prosecutors said.Jesse
Sifuentes, 21, shook the baby until the child "became unresponsive"
because he was frustrated that the child was crying due to teething,
prosecutors said. The baby died May 28, 2008, three days after the
child was injured in a Thornton home. Sifuentes was alone with his son
when the baby was shaken. “As a mother, I understand the
frustration of a crying baby. However, there are always options
available to keep a child from harm," said Sarah Collins, chief deputy
district attorney for Adams/Broomfield counties. "In this case,
Sifuentes had the option to put his baby in a crib in another room
where he would be safe. But instead he made another choice that ended
tragically.”
Sifuentes claimed the baby was accidentally shaken while he was running with the child with his head unsupported.The
baby sustained severe injuries including severed nerves in his brain
stem, spinal nerve root hemorrhages, subdural hematomas, retinal
hematomas, retinal hemorrhages and bruises to his right ear and right
arm. Prosecution experts testified that these types of injuries are not
consistent with accidental shaking or the result of negligence.Sifuentes
was immediately taken into custody, where he will remain until
sentencing on March 31. He faces 16 to 48 years in prison.