Aurora, Colorado, USA (McN)
“What occurred in that apartment on July 19 was nothing short of horrific. No mother should have to bury her 4-year-old child; no family should have to decide — at the advice of medical professionals — to take their little girl off of life support”
A man who told police he fatally struck his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in 2015 because she soiled herself has been sentenced to 48 years in prison.
If convicted at trial, Campbell was facing life in prison without parole. Deputy district attorneys Amy Ferrin and Gary Dawson said this week they offered a plea agreement to spare a witness, Angel’s then 8-year-old brother, Tyreak, from having to testify about his sister’s death. Shane Campbell, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum of 48 years, said Vikki Migoya, a spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County district attorney’s office.
“No amount of time in prison can make up for the life that was lost; but, through this plea agreement we were able to protect a second child — Tyreak — from having to relive the day his sister was murdered,” prosecutors said.
According to an arrest affidavit filed against Campbell, officers arrived at an apartment at 100 Dayton Street July 19, 2015, to assist rescue personnel who were treating an unresponsive 3-year-old girl, Angel T. Bailey.
A police officer said he overheard Campbell, who was in the apartment, say he had never hit the child that hard before.
Later, in a police car headed to police headquarters, Campbell told the officer he was mad at the child for soiling herself and he struck her. During an interview later with detectives Campbell told police after he hit the girl she immediately had a seizure.
Prosecutors said Campbell insisted he struck the girl just once but evidence said otherwise. Angel suffered multiple blows to the head and torso, prosecutors said, and had multiple bruises and a skull fracture.
“What occurred in that apartment on July 19 was nothing short of horrific. No mother should have to bury her 4-year-old child; no family should have to decide — at the advice of medical professionals — to take their little girl off of life support,” Ferrin said in an email.
