Dad Jailed For Violently Shaking 2-Month-Old Baby Daughter To Death

A man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for violently shaking his 2-month-old child to death in Scotland.

Joseph Ray, 33, was charged with the murder of his daughter, Ava Ray, after an investigation that lasted for seven years. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide last month. The High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, delivered the judgment on Wednesday.

The tragic incident happened in November 2012. When the baby's mother, Lauren Scott, went to work in a nearby bar, she left the baby with Ray in their apartment in Prestonpans, Scotland, reported BBC.

Around 10.50 p.m., Ray told neighbors that the baby was "cold to the touch." The emergency officials were called to the apartment and they found the baby "white in color, limp and unresponsive." She was taken to a nearby hospital but she died the next morning.

The incident was initially treated as "unascertained" and tests at the hospital revealed that her brain was deprived of oxygen.

Prosecutor Ashley Edwards told the court that medical experts ascertained that "head injury" was the cause of her death. The prosecutor added that the couple used to argue regularly after the baby's birth, primarily regarding who would take care of her night-time feeds, reported local news outlet East Lothian Courier.

Defense Attorney Shelagh McCall told the court that the incident happened in a "momentary loss of control by an exhausted and inexperienced parent."

McCall said Ray had very little sleep after a very long working day. He felt overwhelmed and angry when he was woken up by the baby and shook her twice. "He still struggles to understand that what he did had such a catastrophic outcome," McCall added.

The judge, Lady Stacey, described the case as a "terrible tragedy involving the death of a much-loved child."

"Ava's life was snuffed out just as it was starting by one of the people she was entitled to rely on. You have to live with that knowledge for the rest of your days," she added.

The baby's mother described the sentencing as shocking and said seven years was inadequate.

"The family feels disappointed in it because for eight years we've suffered mentally and physically through this lad telling lies. He could have admitted it long before this. He's gone about laughing and enjoying himself while my daughter was suffering," Richard Scott, Lauren's father, added.