A Kentucky man ended the years-long case against him — for killing his month-old son because he lost a video game — with a plea that maintains his innocence but acknowledges he will likely lose in court.
Anthony Trice and his son De’Anthony Trice were alone together when the father lost his video game, threw a controller across the room, and punched the baby in the head with his fist, as CrimeOnline reported. Then he picked the boy up to go to the kitchen but dropped him on the way. He made the bottle, propped the infant up with the bottle in his mouth and went to the bathroom. When he returned, he noticed the child was in distress and called 911.
The boy died a week later in the hospital.
Trice was arrested on a criminal abuse charge, which was upgraded to first degree murder when the child died, WDRB said. He pleaded to a manslaughter charge in a move called an Alford plea.
Alford pleas are part of the plea bargaining process and are typically entered when the defendant is seeking a lesser punishment. As long as the defendant is properly advised by a lawyer to enter the plea, the defendant may continue to insist on their innocence even while spending decades in jail.
Such pleas are allowed in all American courts except those in the US military, New Jersey, Michigan, and Indiana.
Trice was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Louisville Courier-Journal said.
