MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (WHTM) -
Updated at 11:06 to correct an error in the second paragraph.
A Middletown man was sentenced to 7-14 years behind bars after the 2009 death of his infant son.
Tuesday morning Brandon Murray, 27, of Middletown pleaded no contest to the third degree murder of his five-week-old son, David Murray. Brandon Murray will be credited for three years of time he has already served behind bars. Murry was originally charged with homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Brandon Murray's defense attorney Spero Lappas said it's important to note that his client is not admitting guilt in this case
"He does not agree with any of the allegations made but in order to resolve this case in such a way that justice was done on both sides," Lappas said. "We negotiated this agreement which the judge indicated he thought was very fair."
After David Murry's death, the hospital x-rayed the baby and found a fractured skull, two broken legs bones and a broken finger. A later autopsy showed a broken rib and wrist.
The coroner ruled the death a suffocation.
In 2009, Brandon Murray told police the suffocation occurred after he fell asleep on top of the baby.
Prosecutor Sean McCormick said he thinks Murray could killed the child on accident.
"I believe what we had here was actually a situation where he may not have actually intended to kill his child, but he was upset, he was stressed, he was angry and, as a result of lashing out ... it resulted in the death of his child."
Brandon Murray previously told police he assaulted the baby days before David Murray's death on September 29, 2009.
He told police he had dropped David Murray and, when the baby cried, he shook him and hit the baby's head twice on the kitchen counter. The previous day he told police he had grabbed and squeezed David Murray's arm and finger while forcing him into a car seat.
