Man gets 18 months in death of baby

He shook their 1-month-old daughter to death.

But when John Wayne Wirick, 33, of Pasadena was to be sentenced yesterday in county Circuit Court on one count of manslaughter, his wife wrote the judge a letter on his behalf.

"John is my wonderful gift from God," Jamie Lynn Wade wrote in the two-page letter of support. She explained how she met Wirick about two years ago and that he gave up "everything" last year to help her through a difficult pregnancy.

"He is loving, caring, funny and a fierce friend and husband. He is my best friend," she said.

Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner sentenced Wirick yesterday to six years in prison, but suspended all but 18 months for the Jan. 15 death of his daughter, Lilyanna.

The sentence was slightly more than the one year that defense attorneys argued for in court, but far less than the 10-year maximum penalty allowed under state law.

State sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of between one and six years behind bars.

Prosecutors yesterday did not seek a specific sentence, deciding instead to only argue some facts and leave the final decision up to the court.

Assistant State's Attorney Kathleen Rogers - who said later she supported Hackner's final sentence - noted in court that Wade never mentioned her daughter in the letter. And while eight family members attended yesterday's hearing, none of them were there to speak for Lilyanna, she said.

Rogers went on to describe Lilyanna as the "most helpless of all victims." She said Wirick shook his daughter to death because he had had a "bad day" and she wouldn't stop "fussing."

"Nothing can excuse what this defendant did," she said, pointing out that his wife was home and in the other room the night he shook their daughter. "He had so many things he could have done."

Neither Wirick, his wife, or their families addressed the court yesterday, relying instead on letters.

District Public Defender William Davis disputed any notion that his client's family members don't care about Lilyanna and aren't heartbroken that she died.

"They loved her to no end," he said. "There is no way that Lilyanna doesn't have a voice in this courtroom."

Davis acknowledged that his client shook his daughter, but he argued the injuries were exacerbated by a "comedy of errors" at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie.

Davis said that doctors at BWMC performed a lumbar puncture on Lilyanna before conducting a CT scan and determining that she was suffering from brain swelling. If the case had gone to trial, a medical expert would have testified that this was counter to standard medical procedure and that the lumbar puncture contributed to the child's death, he said.

Rogers countered that the defense expert was wrong. She said the state had its own medical expert who would have testified that the lumbar puncture did not contribute to Lilyanna's death.

Wirick pleaded guilty on Aug. 24 to manslaughter as part of a plea agreement with the state. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of second-degree murder - which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison - as well as five other charges.

Prosecutors said they offered Wirick the plea agreement in August because they did not think he intended to kill his daughter. They also noted that he had a clean criminal record.

According to prosecutors, Wirick and his wife took Lilyanna to BWMC on Jan. 9 with a low body temperature. She was later transferred to Johns Hopkins Children's Center, where doctors determined she had significant brain injuries.

Wirick initially told police he didn't know how Lilyanna was injured. During a three-hour interview, however, he slowly changed his story until he admitted he "bounced" her too hard. He said he realized what he was doing was wrong and put her back in her crib.

Rogers said an autopsy found Lilyanna suffered "global brain swelling" and that her body showed no sign of impact - injuries that suggested she was shaken to death.

Hackner said yesterday he believed Wirick "got frustrated, lost control and harmed his baby."

But at the same time, the judge agreed with the state that Wirick didn't intend to kill the girl. He also believed Wirick was genuinely sorry he shook his baby.