COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A Fort Carson soldier and Iraq war veteran was ordered to spend 40 years in prison for killing his infant daughter because she wouldn’t stop crying, a district judge said.
Army Pfc. Johnathon Christopher Klinker, 22, was sentenced Monday as part of an agreement with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death and second-degree assault.
Klinker entered his pleas in April, and was facing 30 to 64 years behind bars.
At the sentencing hearing, Klinker apologized in court to the girl’s mother, Amanda Redatsky, and to the judge for making what he called a “horrible” mistake.
Klinker had told investigators he became frustrated at his daughter, Nicolette, after she began crying nonstop last October. He admitted that he dropped her on the ground, shook her, held her upside down and allowed her to drop from a sitting position several times.
She died after being removed from life support four days later. An autopsy showed the girl died from severe bleeding in the brain.
“I still don’t understand why I did it,” Klinker told the court. “I’m not looking for mercy, because there’s no justification. It will never be made right. I’d just like to say I’m sorry.”
“This is just such a tragedy,” 4th Judicial District Judge Theresa Cisneros said. “There’s not a thing in this world I can do to make it better.”
A Fort Carson spokesman told The Gazette that Army officials had begun proceedings to discharge Klinker as a result of the convictions.
