MANCHESTER, NH – A 21-year-old city man was sentenced Thursday to six months in the Valley Street jail for injuring his infant daughter by shaking her.
Tommie Johnson of 170 Conant St., pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in the March 7, 2023 shaking of his 62-day-old daughter, identified only in court documents as M.J.
Johnson, then 19, out of frustration shook his infant daughter on March 7, 2023, causing her to suffer three skull fractures, subdural hemorrhaging (bleeding into the brain) retinal hemorrhaging (bleeding into the eyes) among other injuries, according to Hillsborough County Assistant Attorney Meghan Distler. She said the child, now 22-months old, has recovered from her injuries but was recently diagnosed with lazy eye. She said doctors could not determine if that was connected to the shaking incident.
Distler asked the judge to sentence Johnson to a year in the Valley Street jail, followed by admission to the Young Adult Court.
Public Defender Tom Stonitsch asked the judge to give Johnson a suspended sentence. He said Johnson worked with the Division of Children, Youth and Families and ultimately regained full custody of his daughter. He said Johnson also is the father of a second child, by the same woman who was pregnant at the time of the shaking incident. He has not seen or has any relationship with that child because of the current ongoing criminal case.
Stonitsch told Judge N. William Delker, presiding in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District, that his client is ashamed of what he did, and still has nightmares about the incident. He has recently obtained a warehouse job allowing him to begin making support payments.
He said Johnson took parenting classes and worked with DCYF to eventually gain full parental rights and scheduled visits with his daughter.
“I have never had a client who feels as bad as he does,” Stonitsch said.
Distler, however, argued that Johnson did not immediately admit to what he did when interviewed by police. His infant daughter suffered multiple seizures for days in the hospital before Johnson admitted to shaking her.
Stonitsch, however, told the judge that Johnson called 911 and began compressions on his daughter who had stopped breathing. She was taken to the Elliot Hospital for treatment and then transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital.
Stonitsch said Johnson is “almost the ideal case” for referral to Young Adult Court.
The court, which began as a pilot program in the winter of 2022, provides oversight for young offenders including continuing education, structure, and social activities.
Delker, in sentencing Johnson, said it was the hardest part of his job. He said it is understandable that Johnson had panicked, and in self-preservation, initially was not forthright with police about what happened.
He said he found that Johnson was genuinely remorseful and unlikely to offend again.
However, the victim in the case was the most vulnerable “victim you can imagine,” Delker said. He said how the criminal justice system responds when such a victim suffers a serious trauma is an important consideration. He said the public could lose faith in the system if it believes there are no serious consequences for the person responsible.
Having said that, Delker sentenced Johnson to six months in the Valley Street jail and said he looked forward to working with him in Young Adult Court (YAC). Upon release, he is to be referred to the year-long YAC and on probation for three years. When Delker issued the sentence, Johnson’s mother, who was in the courtroom, burst into tears and began sobbing.
Her crying continued as deputies led a handcuffed Johnson out of the courtroom to begin serving his sentence.