How much prison time should be considered appropriate for the murder of an infant? Yes, there must be consideration for intent, maliciousness, premeditation of this act . . . but what is the ballpark? Five years? Ten years? Twenty? Maybe life?
Well, how about ninety days in prison for the death of a six-month-old girl? That is the sentence handed down to a teen dad in Colorado after his actions were shown to have caused the death of his daughter.
Nineteen-year-old Dylan Kuhn originally told authorities that he had found his baby girl with a blanket wrapped around her neck. Upon further questioning, Mr. Kuhn eventually admitted that he had forcefully put his daughter down on a bed when he didn’t know why she was crying. This was consistent with the medical examiner’s findings that the baby had been slammed against a “soft but unyielding surface.”
Kuhn admitted that he had not been straightforward from the beginning because he was scared and because he thought his girlfriend would hate him for what he had done. He pled guilty to manslaughter and the judge, citing Kuhn’s age and lack of previous criminal record, decided that ninety days in jail would be adequate to punish Kuhn for his daughter’s death. The judge agreed with the argument made by Kuhn’s attorney that jail is where many young men learn to be repeat offenders. And, at sentencing, both Kuhn’s mom and his girlfriend spoke on his behalf.
It is difficult to fathom that any human life is equated to only three months of jail time, particularly when the victim is an innocent and defenseless baby. I hope that, at least, this young man uses the opportunity at freedom to “honor his daughter,” as the judge advised in his ruling. In my opinion, he should receive counseling and anger management in addition to his prison sentence.
What are your thoughts on this sentencing?
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Author Jennifer Chase 
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There’s some stuff that happens, where I just cannot get my feeble brain to understand it… first the act here of infanticide,, and secondly, the thinking behind the ruling in this case..
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Ninety days is reprehensible…at the very least, it should be homicide by neglect. We watch both Nancy Grace and Jane Valez Mitchell on a fairly regular basis, and I can’t help but shake my head at the number of times the criminal justice system has failed the victim. Sad.
Thank you much for the follow, Jennifer. It means a lot to me 🙂
Thomas
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You’re welcome Thomas! My pleasure. Thanks for your support and reblogs 🙂
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Oh Jennifer, this makes me so sick and sad. How does the life of a child become so inconsequential that a man rates 90 days of his life for hers? This is just so unjust.
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This story, sadly enough, isn’t so unusual. I think that nothing really surprises me anymore with the criminal justice system — but then I’m wrong. Thanks Sandy, I appreciate you stopping by for a comment.
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