A Phoenix man charged with murder in the shaking death of his 5-month-old daughter pleaded not guilty this morning to charges related to the baby's death.
Amos Andreas, 25, is charged with second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse for the alleged July shaking incident.
On July 22, police were called to the Phoenix Children's Hospital in response to a report of an injured 5-month-old girl.
According to court documents obtained by New Times,
while at the hospital, police interviewed Andreas, the baby's father, who told them he'd fallen asleep with the girl
on his chest.
When he woke up the next morning, about 8:30, he found the baby on the floor, injured.
The baby's mother says she was at work when the girl was hurt.
On August 8, police re-interviewed Andreas. Believe it or not, his story changed.
In his second interview with police, Andreas told detectives he'd fallen
asleep and the baby had fallen off him. When he woke up, he claims he
was so angry with himself for allowing the baby to fall that he shook
her "pretty hard."
On a scale of 1-10 -- 10 being as hard as he can -- Andreas told police the degree to which he shook his daughter was an 8.
Two days after his second interview with police, a forensic pediatrician
determined that the baby suffered a subdural hemorrhage, a bilateral
retinal hemorrhage, and significant brain damage caused by lack of
oxygen. Each of those injuries, the pediatrician determined, were
consistent with a baby getting shaken.
The baby died from her injuries on August 15.
Andreas was interviewed again on August 22. He again told police the
story about being mad he'd allowed his daughter to fall. He told police
that when he picked her up, she had a "shocked" look on her face. So he
shook her.
His next court appearance is scheduled for October 25.
Andreas is only one of several Valley parents suspected of abusing his child. Click here
to read about 22-year-old Melissa Chambers and her 26-year-old
boyfriend, Travis Darrah. Darrah allegedly beat Chambers' 4-year-old son
to death. Click here to read about the Tempe couple who left their 11-month-old baby in a bathtub. Click here to read about 6-year-old Jacob Gibson, who died earlier this week after his parents beat him with a wire hangar. And click here
to read the heartbreaking story of Ame Deal, the Phoenix 10-year-old
who died after members of her family locked her in a tiny footlocker
overnight.
