JOSEPH CLAYTON KOHN - 23 Months (2009) - Charlestown (NW of Philadelphia) PA

A Charlestown man pleaded guilty Monday to charges he
killed his 23-month-old son by feeding him drugs mixed with Gatorade in a baby bottle.
Under a plea agreement, Ian Kohn, 29, will serve 20
to 40 years in state prison, the maximum possible for third-degree
murder. He also pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and
delivery of a controlled substance.
Judge Thomas Gavin called the sentence "extremely generous" considering Kohn had faced the
possibility of life imprisonment. But the child's mother said the
penalty was too harsh because Kohn had not intended any harm.
The victim, Joseph Clayton Kohn, was pronounced dead March 17, 2009, at
Paoli Hospital. An autopsy later revealed high levels of methadone and
Ambien in his system. The victim's father subsequently confessed to
police that he had fed drugs to his child because the baby was having trouble teething.
A self-confessed heroin addict, Kohn asked for forgiveness before his sentencing.
"Joey was such an incredible little boy," he said, reading from a statement. "I never
thought death could happen to my little, beautiful baby boy."
Gavin appeared upset during the hearing.
"I can't even begin to consider how someone could hurt another member of their family," the
judge told Kohn while recalling time spent running with his own
grandson. "I believe in a just God, and with that I am certain that
justice will be done finally in your case."
Kohn's wife and mother-in-law told the judge they accepted the sentence grudgingly.
"I don't believe he meant to kill him," said Sarah Cortlessa, the child's
mother. "I think it is incredibly too long a punishment. I know he would
give up his life, and so would I, if he could bring him back. But he can't.
"I wish there was a way for him to get less time, but
there is not. He loved him. I'm sorry, but I don't think this is right."
"I don't always believe that prison is right" for people with drug
problems, said Gladys Cortlessa, the child's maternal grandmother.
"Drugs have ruined a lot of people in our family.
"Ian is really a good person. He didn't deliberately set out to kill Joey. There was
just a lot of poor judgment here."
Kohn's parents, Robin and Linda Kohn, with whom Kohn was living near Phoenixville at the time of
the child's death, sat in the rear of the courtroom but did not address
the judge. Sarah Cortlessa spoke with them after her husband was led
from the courtroom and hugged Robin Kohn briefly.
After the sentence was handed down, Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth B. Pitts,
head of the district attorney's Child Abuse Unit, said authorities had
debated whether a sentence for third-degree murder was justified or if
they should seek a verdict for first-degree murder. First-degree murder
requires the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the
defendant had formed a clear intent to kill; third-degree murder does not.
"I do not think the defendant intended to kill his son,"
Pitts said. "But this was a heartbreaking case because this child's
death was senseless and avoidable."
According to Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth B. Pitts, emergency personnel brought the
unresponsive child to Paoli Hospital by ambulance on March 17, 2009,
after they were called to the home on Hollow Road by Ian Kohn.
Sarah Cortlessa was in prison at the time, and the child's caretaker, Ian
Kohn, was living with his son in the home's basement, Pitts said.
At the hospital, Kohn said that although his son had developed a
respiratory infection during the previous few days he had not taken him
to a pediatrician. He said his mother was a nurse practitioner who had
examined the child but did not think the illness was alarming.
Kohn told police that both he and the child had been sleeping frequently. He
also admitted to being a heroin addict and said he had been taking
methadone to treat his addiction and Ambien to help him sleep. Pitts
said Kohn admitted to police that he had been taking about twice as much
methadone as prescribed.
Kohn said that on March 17, 2009, he
woke up to change his son's diaper and gave him something to eat and
drink. In the early afternoon, the two were resting and that at some
point he touched the child and heard a moan. Later, when he tried to
awaken the boy, he found the child was cold.
"He yelled and shook Joseph, but the child did not respond," Pitts said.
An autopsy performed a day later by Dr. Ian Hood revealed the presence of methadone
in the child's urine and evidence of other opiates in his system.
After the death, Kohn — who has a long history of prior drug offenses — was
arrested on probation violations. In Chester County Prison, state police
investigators confronted him with the evidence about the drugs found in
his son's system.
Kohn then admitted he had crushed methadone
and Ambien and had fed them to the child with Gatorade in the child's
juice bottle during the previous few days. He said the child was crying
because he was teething "and he was miserable, so he kept refilling the
bottle with the drugs in hopes of settling Joseph down," Pitts told Gavin.
Pitts said evidence suggests the child had been given
narcotics for at least five days before his death. Blood tests found
nine times the amount of drugs that would normally kill a child of his
age and size, she said.
Kohn said he and his attorney, Assistant
Public defender Stewart Paintin, had discussed all his options,
including going to trial and pleading guilty. Kohn said he knew that if
he would be found guilty of first-degree murder, the sentence would be
life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
"I wish there was something I could say or do to make it easier for everybody," Kohn
said. "I'm truly sorry, and I loved Joey. I understand that I cannot be
forgiven, because I will never forgive myself."