Livermore man gets 11 years in prison for killing 6-month-old son

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- A 29-year-old Livermore man who had been charged with murder for the death of his 6-month-old baby boy two years ago has pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 11 years in state prison, according to court records.

Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. J.D. Nelson said deputies responded to the 2400 block of Buena Vista Avenue in unincorporated Livermore at about 1:30 p.m. on July 29, 2013, after receiving a report of an unresponsive infant and transported the boy to ValleyCare Medical Center in Pleasanton.

Because of the extent of his internal head injuries, the infant was transferred to the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, where he was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit, Nelson said.

Doctors then notified law enforcement officials that the baby suffered from non-accidental head trauma, according to Nelson.

The baby boy was pronounced dead three days later, on Aug. 1, 2013.

Nelson said sheriff's investigators determined that the boy's father, Robert James Daily III, was responsible for the trauma he suffered.

The boy was identified by prosecutors as Robert James Daily IV.

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office charged Robert Daily III with murder and one count child abuse causing death and he was arrested by Livermore police in the 2100 block of Paseo Laguna Seco on Aug. 8, 2013.

Nelson said Daily attempted to evade police as they approached the vehicle he was hiding in but he ultimately surrendered and was taken into custody safely after a brief chase.

Alameda County prosecutors said Daily, a construction worker who has prior convictions for second-degree commercial burglary and possession of a controlled substance for sale, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter on Jan. 7 and was sentenced to 11 years in state prison by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Dan Grimmer in Hayward on Feb. 6.

Alameda County sheriff's Deputy Jason Hawks wrote in a probable cause statement that Daily told authorities that he had given a bottle to his son on a bed at his family's home, went outside for 10 minutes to smoke a cigarette and found the boy suffering from a seizure when he returned.

Daily told investigators that he poured a bottle of water on the baby's head in an attempt to rouse him and when that didn't work he got into the shower with the child for a few minutes, according to Hawks.

In a later interview, Daily told investigators that when he came back inside from smoking he found his son on the floor, apparently from rolling out of bed, and that he had gotten a bag of ice to rub on the child's forehead to stop the seizure, Hawks said.

However, the medical staff at UCSF said the infant suffered non-accidental and assaultive head trauma and his injuries were inconsistent with Daily's explanations, Hawks said.

The medical staff said Daily's son suffered fractured ribs as well as bilateral detached retinas, retinal hemorrhages, brain hemorrhage and swelling to his brain, according to Hawks.