A Montgomery County man has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in the death of his infant son two years ago.
On June 24, 2011, police say 24-year-old Jameel Earthy East was babysitting his 3-month-old son Enzo at a home in Towamencin Township.
Later that night, Enzo was taken to the Abington Lansdale Hospital where he was unresponsive upon arrival. He was then taken by helicopter and treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull and brain injury.
He was pronounced dead the next day at 8:12 p.m. The Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth Services contacted the Towamencin Township Police who began their investigation.
On June 27, 2011, an autopsy at the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the infant suffered two skull fractures and had died from blunt cerebral trauma. His death was ruled a homicide.
On June 28, 2011, police brought in East for questioning. East initially claimed that Enzo stopped breathing after he accidentally dropped him on the ground. He then said that he tried to perform CPR on him. Police say that East then claimed that he carried Enzo down the stairs and fell against the stairway handrail, causing Enzo to strike his head against the wall.
Police further questioned East, claiming that his first story was inconsistent. Police then say that East admitted that he was in his grandmother’s room with Enzo when the infant vomited on his shorts. East then carried Enzo into a bathroom to bathe him when he was “overwhelmed.” He then struck Enzo’s head against a bathroom counter, causing the boy to go into shock. He then bathed Enzo while noticing that he wasn’t breathing and that his eyes were rolling back into his head.
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East was arrested on June 29, 2011. Last January he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and lying to authorities.
"I can only imagine the amount of force that had to be utilized to create the two wounds to the child's head,'' President Judge William Furber Jr. said during Wednesday's sentencing.
Defense attorneys sought a lesser sentence, arguing that East wasn't a "bad person'' but didn't have the parenting skills to handle the situation, The (Doylestown) Intelligencer said.
"No one is ever ready to care for a baby,'' said Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman said. "It is something you learn as you go along. By actively taking a role in that baby's life, you are telling that child you will take care of him, not hurt him."
