Montco Dad Pleads Guilty in Death of Infant Daughter
By Brad Segall
HATBORO, Pa. (CBS) -- A 30-year-old Upper Moreland father today admitted in court that he was responsible for the death of his two-month-old infant daughter after a night of drinking more than a year ago in Montgomery County.
Edward Doyle tearfully told the judge that his stupid actions that day cost him his daughter and until then, the best part of his day had been seeing his daughter's smile when he came home from work.
Doyle pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, admitting that he caused her death inside their Hatboro apartment and then failed to get medical help.
Defense attorney Robert Hoopes says he doesn't know whether Doyle was too drunk to call for help.
"I think he was more scared, afraid, upset, didn't know what to do," Hoopes tells KYW Newsradio. "This was something he waited his whole life to have, children, and he lost one."
Prosecutors say Doyle claimed he was holding the child and then fell on her, but they say her fatal injuries were inconsistent with his story (see related stories).
Sentencing will come later this year, but attorneys say there's an agreement that it can't be more than 12½-25 years.