JAYDEN COHEN - 2 Months - Dunmore/ Moosic PA

http://www.wnep.com/wnep-lacka-dunmore-baby-at-center-of-abuse-allegations-dies-20120103,0,4037719.story



A baby involved in what police call a case of child abuse has died in Lackawanna County.

Authorities believe Matthew Evans, 20, from Dunmore shook two-month-old Jayden Cohen two weeks ago causing injuries that led to his death Monday night.

The baby lived in an apartment in the 400 block of Foote Street in Dunmore with his mother Dorri Cohen, and Evans. Evans is Cohen's boyfriend, but not the baby's father.

Last month investigators say the mother left the two-month-old with Evans.

Paramedics were called and they rushed the baby to the hospital.

Police arrested Evans after they say he admitted to smoking synthetic marijuana.

Evans was also charged with aggravated assault.

“This particular defendant understood the dangers of shaking, and despite those warnings and despite his own knowledge, he still made the conscious choice to do it,” said Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico.

Authorities in Lackawanna County have not said what new charges may be filed against Evans after the death of the baby.

Dunmore man pleads guilty to baby boy's murder, faces up to 40 years in prison

By Denis J. O'Malley (Staff Writer)
Published: April 20, 2012

The Dunmore man accused of shaking his girlfriend's infant son, ultimately killing the 2-month-old, in December pleaded guilty Friday to murder in the third degree.

Matthew Evans, 21, 408 Foote St., first floor, Dunmore, faces up to 40 years in prison for the murder of the baby boy, Jayden Cohen. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Evans was babysitting the infant on Dec. 20 when he began to shake him while he was crying, according to a criminal complaint. He admitting to investigators he had been smoking Spice, a brand of synthetic marijuana, that evening.

Emergency responders found Jayden unresponsive and, after weeks of surgery to relieve swelling on the brain, the child died on Jan. 2. His death was ruled a homicide.

Evans had been facing assault charges until Tuesday, when the Lackawanna County District Attorney's office formally charged him with murder in the first degree and murder in the third degree.

"It was a foregone conclusion," said Lackawanna County First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico, who prosecuted the case.

The delay in filing murder charges against Evans was less a matter of continuing the investigation than it was awaiting official word from medical experts.

"We were waiting for the official reports," he said.

Prosecutors agreed to not pursue the first-degree murder charge or any other charges related to the infant's death against Mr. Evans' in exchange for his pleading guilty to the third-degree murder charge, Lackawanna County Judge Vito P. Geroulo explained during Friday morning's pre-trial conference.

Though a sentencing date was not set Friday, Mr. Evans' attorney, Lackawanna County Public Defender Sid Prejean, requested that the pre-sentence investigation be expedited.

Following Mr. Evans plea, his older sister, April Evans, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse and stressed that her brother is "not a monster in any way" and that he had taken responsibility for his actions.

"He wanted to be a man. He knew he was wrong. He knew what he'd done," she said.

Though Mr. Talerico said "accountability is placed where it needs to be" after Mr. Evans' plea Friday, the reality of what his actions caused was not changed.

"This is not a good day. It's never a good day," Mr. Talerico said. "At the end of the day, Matthew Evans is going to have something that Jayden Cohen doesn't have - and that's life."

Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com

http://m.citizensvoice.com/news/dunmore-man-pleads-guilty-to-baby-boy-s-murder-faces-up-to-40-years-in-prison-1.1303270