Emotions spill out as man learns fate in death of shaken baby
TACOMA, Wash. -- An emotional outburst in court disrupted the sentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to killing his baby daughter.
Ivyree Flowers admitted to violently shaking 8-month-old Leileah when her crying disrupted his video game. Leileah died more than a year ago in Tacoma.
The baby's mother was not in court Wednesday. Leila's maternal grandmother was present, however, and addressed the court.
"A piece of my heart is missing because she made me smile. She was my joy," said Jeannie Williamson.
As Williamson told the judge about her granddaughter, Flowers' own mother grew angry and refused to sit down. As a result, Flowers' mother and several other family members were thrown out of court.
"My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident," said Flowers' mother.
The outburst halted the proceedings as court officials tried to calm the defendant's relatives. But Williamson and her family did not want the disruptions to overshadow the little girl's death.
"The disruption that they have caused, not just today but prior to this -- I don't understand it," said Steve Harrington, Leileah's great uncle.
Even though Flowers pleaded guilty, he has maintained Leileah's death was an accident.
"I want to let everyone know that I'm very sorry for the loss we took. I also want the courts to know that this was an accident," he said.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge James Orlando said he doesn't believe Flowers is truly remorseful, and sentenced him to 18 years, exceeding the prosecutor's request.
Ivyree Flowers admitted to violently shaking 8-month-old Leileah when her crying disrupted his video game. Leileah died more than a year ago in Tacoma.
The baby's mother was not in court Wednesday. Leila's maternal grandmother was present, however, and addressed the court.
"A piece of my heart is missing because she made me smile. She was my joy," said Jeannie Williamson.
As Williamson told the judge about her granddaughter, Flowers' own mother grew angry and refused to sit down. As a result, Flowers' mother and several other family members were thrown out of court.
"My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident," said Flowers' mother.
The outburst halted the proceedings as court officials tried to calm the defendant's relatives. But Williamson and her family did not want the disruptions to overshadow the little girl's death.
"The disruption that they have caused, not just today but prior to this -- I don't understand it," said Steve Harrington, Leileah's great uncle.
Even though Flowers pleaded guilty, he has maintained Leileah's death was an accident.
"I want to let everyone know that I'm very sorry for the loss we took. I also want the courts to know that this was an accident," he said.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge James Orlando said he doesn't believe Flowers is truly remorseful, and sentenced him to 18 years, exceeding the prosecutor's request.
LET ME START OUT BYÂ SAYING...I'AMJUSTSAYING TRYING TO GET STRIGHT TO THE POINT!!! WHEN YOUR IN THE FAM AND NO ONE NEAVER TLK ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN EACH FAMS LIFE AND NO ONE NEAVER DO NOTHINGÂ Â WHEN THEY DO FINE OUT ABOUT THINGS THEY JUST LET SHI. GO OF COURSE THINGS GET OUT OF HANDS..... HELL WHEN YOU GOT TWO PARENTS THATÂ ALREADY ROAD THE IRON... WHAT A CHILDÂ GETÂ TO RIDEÂ THE SAME OLD IRON WHEN THEY GET'S OLDER!!!I JUST SIT AND LOOKING IN THE WINDOW...LIKE REALLY.....AM I SHOCK NO!!!!!
THE SAME IRON
The sentence is not long enough-it should be a life for a life
That's it? 18 years. WOW. So you can kill you child peeps by shaking it and get out in 18. Absurd!
"My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident," said Flowers' mother. "
Really? Too bad you didnât accidentally shake your child to death then Mom. If you could have done this early in his life you could have saved us all a lot of money.
he accidentally violently shook the baby until it died? 18 years is way too short.
How about, "I'm very sorry for the loss I CAUSED", not "we took". What does that even mean? You're sorry for your own loss? Unbelievable. And, gee, I wonder where he got the anger management issues and lack of responsibility for his actions, mom?Â
And let's be clear Mr. Flowers: You are NOT innocent.
Have fun in prison, scumbag.
Did anyone else notice he said the "life we took"........who is this we? it was him.......not we..... we infers that he was not alone in his actions.....Â
I really want to see the unedited outburst quote. Why edit it?
If you pick up a child and shake them, you made a choice. That is no accident and this fella deserves every bit of pain he gets out of this. He's "Sorry"? Won't bring that child back. It doesn't excuse it. Rot in hell!
@PhunkyMunky he is sorry - sorry he got caughtÂ
How can one call it an accident when he deliberately picked up the child, shook her till he damaged the child to the point of killing her??? I must have missed something in law school but I would call it manslaughter at the least. Eighteen years, hell I would have stuck him in a hole so deep it would take and act of God to get light to him. I hope he rots in there. Flowers mother should read a description of "accident" in the dictionary and then try to convince someone her little lambikins is innocent.Â
Won't it be ideal if you could have your little computer games to play all alone in your cell for the next 18 years. You pos.
"My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident," said Flowers' mother.
The only accident was this mother giving birth to this scumbag son. May he rot in jail.
Get real. Shaken Baby Syndrome is not an accident. The guy is a rotten apple straight from his rotten apple tree mama.
""My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident," said Flowers' mother." Oh STFU! Since when is shaking a baby to death an accident? She's just as crazy as her son, big surprise!
@Zoso and apparently the apple didnt fall far from the tree.......
You go judge! Â Shaking a baby is never an "accident". Â Maybe his mother should have done this to him, "accidentally" that is. Â If you do not have the capacity to understand that a baby cries and will cry and will drive you crazy, you should never be a father. Â To shake and kill your own flesh and blood is beyond evil, it's unforgivable. Â Spend your 18yrs. thinking about the "accident".
You all should really stop attacking the mother. I am sure that if your child or you did something, mommy will have your/their back. This guy did something wrong, I will not justify what he did. This guy may have been a good citizen that loved and respected people. We don't know what mom is truly thinking , but she is standing beside him 100% because of the man he once was. If one of my kids have a dumba** attack, I am sure not going to be oh sorry can't love you that much, I can only love you when your perfect. No one was in that room when this tragic mishap happen, but yet everyone wants to waste energy on attack the mom.Â
@Just my say It's called tough love. You do not allow or excuse such actions. Then they know they are NOT RIGHT. You excuse or make excuses for them and they turn out like this.
@Just my say I think there is a big difference between having someone's back and excusing their behavior......or like in this case denying he did anything wrong. If my child did something as horrendous as this, it certainly would not keep me from loving them, a mother's love is that way.. It would break my heart and even still would I stand with then in their trial........but I would not be defending their behavior and I would certainly be hoping that they could atone for their deeds and pay the price for the mistakes made. The best she could have said was "my son has done a terrible thing that he now has to pay for" end of story..........
@Just my sayWrong!!! My parents would disown me and never see my face again if I did something like this. Our family has zero tolerance for child murderers/rapists etc
@Just my say Ridiculous. With parenting like that, no wonder kids today have no real guidance. Sure, you always love them, but that in no way means that you defend bad behavior from them!
@Just my say I would be upset and I would be angry, just like any other mother would. However I'd like to think that my thoughts would be more focused on the beautiful grandchild I had loss. He's been sentenced to 18 years, she was sentenced to death. Big difference.
@Just my say Being supportive to your child, no matter what, is one thing. Being completely dense and obtuse is another.Â
Sounds to me like the mother is in denial over her son's actions and has NO CLUE what she is talking about. Shaken Baby Syndrome can not, I repeat, CAN NOT happen accidentally.Â
"%s is frightening, but the good news is that you canât accidentally cause it in your baby. It might seem easy to accidentally jostle your baby when pulling him or her out of a car seat or during play, but such motions will not cause the syndrome alone. For shaken baby syndrome to occur, a babyâs body must be shaken deliberately and forcefully." Â %s
I think people are up-in-arms over the mother's statement, because (to me) it seems like the mother could care less that a baby, her grandchild, is DEAD at the hands of her son. Seems she's more upset over her son going to prison instead of her grandchild's death.
@Tattooed_Angel2...AÂ accident is doing something without intention of the result.Â
In other words, yes he says he shook the baby but it was not his intention to do harm let alone causing the dealth....a accident in his mind. Maybe that is his way of dealing.
@Just my say If my son did that to his child, I'm pretty sure I'd be shaking him to death next.  There is no way in hell I'd be raising him to think that shaking an infant is OK in any way, shape or form.
@Just my say No, there are some actions that do not deserve to have 'someone at your back'. Do you still love them, yes, but you don't stickup for someone who commits such harm.
Good riddance! Now you have 18 years to think about what a POS you are! "Accidently" shaking an defenseless baby because she disrupted your video game?! I'd spit on you if I could.
@Tattooed_Angel2 Don''t worry, They'll LOOOOOOOVE him in prison,(to death if they can)!
Such a touching story...(sniff)....mom will be wailing and wailing over her sons sentencing for years to come. These people make me sick trying to rationalize the murder of the child and minimizing it as an "accident". Mom is probably thinking that her precious son will turn his life around while in prison and will get an early release for "good behavior" too. **facepalm** Bye-bye, baby killer!!!
Can't see how one "accidentally" shakes a baby and kills them. I get the family connection thing but people are ultimately adults responsible for their own behavior and the reaction sometimes is simply hard to believe. As Throbinhood says below, Get Real.Â
@Citizen#3457899654Â Did you watch the video? Â His whole family has issues.
@PlumBUSTED! @Citizen#3457899654 His whole family is trying to understand what in the world is going on and that can make people react really different Everyone has issues, hell this site shows it to. There is a group of people that they don't know and they want to argue with them about crap that has nothing to do with their life. It shows that no one on here has anything better to do with their time, but to be negative toward everyone. People just wanting negativity in their life. Now that is an issue.Â
@Just my say .... Coming from a guy with nearly 1000 post on "...this site".  What do all those comments say about your life?
@Just my say @PlumBUSTED! @Citizen#3457899654 Including you?
""My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident," said Flowers' mother."
Your child is about to go to jail because he killed an infant. An accident would be if he had reached into the silverware drawer for a spoon and grabbed a fork instead. Shaking a baby is not an accident nor is killing a baby. He's getting what he deserves, jail time.
@what? I agree. Everyone knows shaking a baby can kill it. Since the 1980's there have been numerous advertisements, commercials, famous court cases, etc. For this guy to do something that is known to be fatal to a child, and then to say the child died on "accident" is just total BS.Â
"My child is about to go to (prison) for an accident,"
G-E-TÂ R-E-A-L
@Throbbinhood Yeah, NO SH!7!!  What a 'Tough guy'... who the he** takes out anger issues on an 8 month old DEFENSELESS baby!  This was over a freaking video game?  Where are peoples GD priorities?  Put down the stupid TOY and pick up and care for YOUR OWN CHILD.  This makes me SICK!
When my first child was born 30 years ago, I put the video games away. I haven't touched them since. If a child is "interupting your game", you should be paying attention to the child. My daughter now has given me a grandson and he is more fun than any video game could be...No shaking...More hugging.....
@boeman When you have child there are alot of things you put away, and don't pick up again at least for awhile. Your child became #1 over everything.
@boeman I am 31 years old and Atari was the bomb!
This wasn't an accident. Â This was murder by abuse. Â He should not be released from prison until he is unable to reproduce.
@NWNative I agree many people commit crimes, some by accident, others intend no harm, but still a criminal act. To me INTENT is the most important factor in deciding punishment. Shaking a baby THAT hard shows PLENTY of  INTENT.Â
I've read, baby murderers are lower on the food chain than child molesters in prison, so I doubt his time will be enjoyable. Â Â
Damn hard to feel any sympathy for this loser. 18 years is not enough.
Talk about bad timing......goodness only 8 months prior and no harm, no foul, heck, you could have been a party member of the DNC in good standing!
@raydawg Go troll your anti abortion message somewhere else.  This was someone's child.
You take a life you should get life. That little girl will never get a second chance.
You don't violently shake an 8 month old baby by mistake. Have fun in prison for the next 18 years. Just think, she would have been 18 or there about the day you get out. POS!
@Jeff Valdez Took the words right out of my mouth. Thank you.