GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the 2018 death of his 2-month-old son.
The Daily Sentinel reports that District Judge Valerie Robison sentenced Shaun O'Byrne on Wednesday in Mesa County Court where he had pleaded guilty earlier to child abuse resulting in death.
Several family members and friends of O'Byrne spoke to the court on Wednesday in defense of O'Byrne and asked that the sentence be reduced. They spoke to his character as a person and father.
O'Byrne did not to address the court.
O'Byrne's child died in August 2018 at a Denver hospital two days after emergency personnel responded to a call that the child was not breathing.
Authorities say the child had at least 17 rib fractures.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel, http://www.gjsentinel.com