On Friday morning, a 20-year-old individual received a 30-year prison term for an incident that resulted in the death of his infant child earlier this year.
Justin Golden had entered a guilty plea to the charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child back in September.
Authorities contended that the event was not accidental but stemmed from deliberate actions that endangered the child. The court concurred, imposing the harshest possible penalty.
The tragic event occurred on January 25, when Golden removed his 8-month-old son, Pablo, from a vehicle and left him on the roadway at the McDuff Avenue South and Lenox Avenue intersection.
Amid an argument with the child's mother, Golden departed the scene by car, subsequently striking and fatally injuring the infant.
During the sentencing proceedings, prosecutors emphasized that while Golden may not have intended to cause his child's death, his conduct was alarmingly reckless.
"I have seen people exercise more care, caution and concern for a squirrel that darts into the roadway, a lizard that is on the hood of their car," the prosecutor said. "I have seen people act more carefully in a car than the way this defendant did with his own son's life. And that is why every time I watch this video I am just appalled, and again saddened, because even though this might not have been intentional, if you wanted it to be, it would look exactly like this is."
Golden expressed remorse for the suffering inflicted upon his son, his family, and the wider community, acknowledging that he warranted legal consequences.
