William Johnston was on this Earth for only one month. Andrew Keith Johnston, for 19 years. And he'll be spending the next 27 in a Tennessee prison, whose population generally doesn't look favorably upon child killers.
Andrew Johnston, of Normandy, Tenn., pleaded guilty on Monday and was sentenced on Thursday. In October 2010, he was playing video games when his newborn son began crying in his bassinett. Johnston told a judge that he went over to the baby, grabbed him, and shook him by his two legs, reports The Shelbyville (Tenn.) Times-Gazette.
The infant's mother had left to go to the store. She was gone for only 10 minutes. Discovering the baby was unresponsive and suffering from hypothermia (Johnston had tried to revive him in a cold shower), she called 911; on Oct. 22, in Nashville, William Johnston was taken from life support and died.
It's a hell of a thing when you admit guilt and still go down for 27 years. Pleading guilty probably is the only thing that spared Johnston from life in prison. Two lives, one ended, one ruined in one angry instant. Chilling.
Father Admits Killing Son [Times-Gazette. Thanks Rio-GT]