The 19-year-old Dolores resident, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September in the death of his 6-month-old daughter in November of 2011, was sentenced Tuesday morning to 90 days in jail.
Dylan Kuhn was accused of slamming his daughter on a bed which caused head injuries that resulted in his daughter’s death.
Much of the prosecution’s case during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing focused on a November 2011 taped video meeting between Kuhn and Montezuma County Sheriff Detective Jason Spruell.
Kuhn faced up to four years in prison under the plea agreement, and District Attorney Russell Wasley urged District Court Judge Douglas Walker to give Kuhn the maximum prison sentence allowed.
According to court documents, police said Kuhn admitted to slamming his infant daughter down on a bed in the early hours of Nov. 1.
The alleged admission came after a medical doctor ruled that the death appeared to be caused by the infant being slammed against a soft, but unyielding surface.
During his interview with Spruell, Kuhn repeatedly maintained his daughter fell off the couch a week earlier.
After being told the evidence did not support this claim, Kuhn admitted he lied and said the fall was actually closer to two days.
At the urging of Spruell, Kuhn eventually admitted he had placed his daughter harder than he should have on the bed.
He then asked to speak to an attorney, and after Spruell left the interview room, the tape showed Kuhn crying uncontrollably.
Walker also sentenced Kuhn to four years probation, mental health and substance evaluation and treatment, a parenting class, and not to be allowed to be alone with children under the age of 10, and court costs.
See this website or the Cortez Journal Thursday for more on this story.
