McKeesport man gets 15 to 30 years for shaking infant son to death
A McKeesport man who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for fatally shaking his infant son will serve at least 15 years in prison.
Michael Barber, 31, pleaded guilty on Aug. 5 before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Satler.
On Monday, she ordered him to serve 15 to 30 years in state prison.
Michael Barber Jr., who was 5 months old, died on Sept. 4, 2022, four days after police said his father shook him so hard he caused bleeding and swelling in his brain.
Staff at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh determined that Michael Jr. suffered subdural hemorrhaging, arachnoid hemorrhaging and cerebral edema, which indicated that he was shaken, according to Allegheny County Police.
An autopsy determined that Michael Jr. died from abusive head trauma.
Police were called to the Harrison Village housing complex around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2022, for an unresponsive infant.
A neighbor with first-aid training told police Barber took the child to her early that morning. The infant was cold and not breathing.
Barber told police he shook the boy twice and that he’d been frustrated with “always being left to care for his two children.”
At sentencing on Monday, defense attorney Brandon Herring said his client had struggled after his mother’s death.
Barber’s aunt, the Rev. Kim Barber, who spoke on his behalf, told the court he had been proud to become a father when his daughter was born, and again with Michael Jr.
“Providing for his children was never the problem,” she said.
Her nephew enjoyed playing with his kids, too, she said.
“Michael’s love was tested when his mother got sick,” Kim Barber said. “Michael is so much more than what he has pled guilty to.”
But Deputy District Attorney Sarah Weikart told the court that Michael Barber Jr. spent more days of his short life in hospitals than he did at home with his parents.
He was repeatedly hospitalized for failure to thrive, and doctors reported his case to ChildLine multiple times, Weikart said.
At the time of the child’s death, she said, Michael Jr. was 5 months old and weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces.
When given the chance to address the court, Barber apologized.
“I’m not a bad person,” he said. “I made mistakes because I was going through things. I live this every day.”
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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