A dad who repeatedly threw his seven-week-old baby into a wall and dropped her on her head has been jailed for murder.
Steven Michael Strahm, 30, was jailed for 23-and-a-half years for killing his baby daughter, Scarlet Blair Strahm.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in a plea deal negotiated with prosecutors in exchange for them dropping a child neglect charge.
The sickening act took place in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, in December 2020.
Scarlet was rushed to the University of Florida Health hospital by her mother Breeana Kilzer after she saw that her baby was having a seizure.
Medics confirmed that the baby was suffering from a brain bleed, with Strahm initially claiming that he had "accidentally dropped her" while her mother was working.
The baby was placed in the hospital's intensive care unit for treatment but died on the morning of January 3 2021.
Investigators determined that Strahm had repeatedly thrown baby Scarlet into a wall before dropping her on her head, upgrading an initial charge of aggravated child abuse to murder.
Prior to sentencing, a lawyer representing the family of the victim read a statement attributed to Breeana saying: "You broke me. You took the best part of me away and you broke me."
The statement also said: "I never got to hear her giggle. I never got to watch her crawl or hear her first words or watch her take her first steps.
"She should be two and a half and probably be the most amazing person now, but I'll never know."
