1. Man given 45 years in jail for ‘suffocating newborn son with baby wipe’.
Father of baby Chance Walsh convicted of murder https://t.co/32suWos1lo #htnow pic.twitter.com/K0oNtMrZ4F
— Herald-Tribune (@HeraldTribune) May 2, 2017
A man who suffocated his seven-week-old son by “shoving a baby wipe” down his throat after beating him in a drug-fuelled rage has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
The Herald Tribune reports Florida man Joseph Walsh, 36, was offered the plea deal after the baby boy’s – named Chance – mother took her own life in prison.
Kristen Bury, 33, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for her role in baby Chance’s death – she removed the wipes from his throat but did not call 911 – but took her own life in September last year.
Her evidence against Joseph on how he treated their seven-week-old son before his death became inadmissible after her suicide.
According to court records, Joseph beat his newborn baby during a “drug-fuelled” rage before he suffocated Chance, leaving him to “gasp for air for several hours” before he died.
Neither Joseph or Kirsten called for medical assistance on the day Chance died, and his body was left to decompose in his crib for several days after his death.
His parents then borrowed a friend’s car and used a broken shovel to bury Chance’s body in a remote area, before attempting to flee the state.
After Walsh was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse and handed his sentence, the family of baby Chance had a few moments to speak to him before he was taken away.
Top Comments
Why would someone get 45 years for suffocating a baby and someone else get 24 years max for beating to death his gf? Don't get me wrong - I think 45 years for murdering a baby is spot on, but how/why can you get nearly half the time for the slow, protracted, deliberate, torturous murder of an intimate partner?? Is it reflective of our attitude towards violence against women?
OMG - I feel so emotionally drained & sad reading all these stories...........there seems to be so much evil in the world.