A father convicted of killing his 9-month-old son by shaking the baby so severely it severed the nerves in his brain stem was sentenced Monday to 22 years in prison.
Jesse Sifuentes, 21, shook the baby until the child "became unresponsive" because he was frustrated that the child was crying incessantly. The baby was hard to soothe because he had been teething, prosecutors said.
The baby boy died May 28, 2008, three days after he was hurt in his Thornton home and airlifted to Children's Hospital.
Sifuentes was alone with his son when the baby was shaken. 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.
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