Iowa teen dad who killed infant daughter by shaking her so violently that it shattered her skull sentenced to 100 years
DES MOINES, IOWA: An Iowa teenage father who killed his infant daughter by violently shaking her to the point wherein she shattered her skull will likely be spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Jayden Straight was arrested by the authorities when he was 17 years old after his eight-month-old daughter, Raija, was transported to the Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines with serious internal injuries on July 18, 2018, according to the Daily Mail.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for her funeral said the infant had been badly beaten when she was rushed to the hospital. The young girl was found to have suffered multiple skull fractures and broken ribs, and despite the best efforts of doctors, could not be saved. "Raija held on for as long as she could but her injuries were too severe," the page read.
Her mother, Ri Bambino, told authorities that Straight had hit her multiple times, with a medical professional confirming that the infant's injuries stemmed from "a deliberate assault and could not be explained as unintentional or accidental."
"A young mother's entire world was stolen from her and an unbelievably precious life taken," a family member said. "In a perfect world, my cousin would have picked her daughter up after work and continued living with her happy, beautiful baby girl."
Robin Head, Raija's great-grandmother, similarly said, "When I saw this child’s face and what she has brought to me for the last eight months of her life. I can’t ever explain that feeling of holding her, laughing with her, touching her, walking with her, crawling with her."
Straight, who turned 18 just weeks after Raija's death, was initially charged with first-degree murder but struck a deal with prosecutors where he agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges.
This past week, he pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, three counts of willful injury, and two counts of child endangerment, and was sentenced to 100 years in prison.
He was handed a 50-year term for second-degree murder, and the maximum sentences for all the other additional charges. The sentences will run consecutively, which means he will remain behind bars until 2119.