Roy, Utah father, Matthew Daniel Graves pleads guilty to beating his newborn son to death because he was sick of always being woken up by the crying child.
A Utah father has pleaded guilty in the beating death of his newborn son because he was sick of the child continuously crying.
Investigators said Matthew Daniel Graves, 24, of Roy punched his month-old son Brayden repeatedly in September 2017 because the child was crying and it made him angry. Graves later told police he was a ‘monster’ who waited to seek help for the infant even though he knew the child was having difficulty, according to prosecutors.
The plea deal follows the father admitting in January to aggravated murder, a first-degree felony and potential capital offense. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of at least 25 years and up to life in prison. Had Graves gone to trial – he risked a possible death sentence the deseretnews reported.
Two remaining charges were dropped in the deal. They include allowing a child to be exposed to controlled substances, a third-degree felony, and drug possession, a class A misdemeanor.
Matthew Daniel Graves affidavit: ‘Matthew made comments that he is a monster, that he has lost all hope in life and is going to lose everything’.
Graves was criminally charged a day after police responded to a Roy home on a report of an infant not breathing, court documents state.
Graves admitted punching Brayden in frustration before sticking the baby’s pacifier in his mouth on the morning of September 7, 2017, according to the Standard-Examiner.
Later the same morning, Graves took Brayden with him when he drove a five year old boy to daycare.
During the trip, the 24-year-old noticed his son wasn’t breathing and called his grandmother, unsure of what to do next.
Graves’ grandmother told him to call 911.
Doctors later determined the child had significant brain trauma, skull fractures and separated vertebrae.
In a sworn affidavit, investigators said Graves branded himself a ‘monster’.
‘Matthew made comments that he is a monster, that he has lost all hope in life and is going to lose everything,’ the affidavit said.
Graves is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5.
