MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man has been sentenced to serve between 20 and 40 years in prison in the death of his 3-month-old son.
Daniel Messner was sentenced Monday in Marshall County, news outlets reported. He was charged in 2019 with death of a child by a parent by child abuse.
A doctor told Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office investigator Bryan Gaus that the child suffered from shaken baby syndrome and his death was the “result of extreme violence,” according to police records.
Messner entered a Kennedy plea in January to charges of voluntary manslaughter, child neglect resulting in death and malicious manslaughter. A Kennedy plea allows a defendant to accept punishment for a crime without having to admit guilt.
