JAZMYN GRIFFIN - 2 Months - Thornton (Denver metro) CO

A Thornton man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for shaking his two-month-old daughter, causing irreversible brain damage. Daniel Griffin, 23, pleaded guilty in June to Knowing Reckless Child Abuse Causing Serious Injury for the death of Jazmyn Griffin.



On June 9, Thornton Police were dispatched to an apartment complex on Woburn Keep on a report of a physical domestic incident in progress. When they arrived, they found the baby girl with her eyes closed and breathing. Jazmyn was rushed to Children’s Hospital where doctors determined that she had suffered neurologic devastation. They had to drill a hole into her head to relieve brain swelling and save her life. Griffin explained to police how he violently shook his daughter, then later recanted saying that he didn’t remember what happened, prosecutors said. He also admitted to being under the influence of methamphetamine at the time. As a result of her injuries, prosecutors say Jazmyn’s head will never grow because of the death of her brain matter. She is blind for life and, at 18-months-old, is unable to walk or talk and is being fed through a stomach tube. "This case is beyond tragic”, states Adams/Broomfield County District Attorney Don Quick. “An innocent child will suffer for the rest of her life as the result of horrible choices made by her father. He will pay the price for those choices for 24 years, but Jazmyn will pay for the rest of her life.”