A Kansas City father came home from work and, because his daughter was crying again, decided to punish her. He snapped her neck and slammed her down on the bed.
Broke Baby’s Neck to Keep it Quiet
Kansas City, February 4, 1909. — John David Stewart was tired when he came home at night after work. He had heard the clanging of tools and machinery all day, and quiet was what he wanted, but there was no quiet at him home.
A little girl, 10 months old, was a part of the Stewart family. She cried quite frequently, after the manner of babies, when the father came home tired.
So Stewart told his wife that she petted the baby too much during the day to keep her quiet and thus made her cry in the evening.
But the baby kept on crying, night after night, and Stewart got angry. So he set out to “break its temper.”
John David Stewart is strong. A child of 10 months is but a fluffy bit of nothing in his hands. The fingers accustomed to hard work gripped too tightly for baby’s comfort. And with those same strong hands, Stewart choked the baby.
He shook her hard one night and then slammed her down on the bed and told his wife to care for her.
Baby’s temper was broken. So was her neck.
The coroner and the doctors said Stewart killed his child, and the wife pointed the accusing finger. So Stewart after that evening when the baby died went to the county jail.
First degree murder was the charge against him.
Yesterday in criminal court Stewart withdrew his plea of not guilty to the charge and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the fourth degree.
His sentence in the penitentiary was two years.
Source: The frontier. (O’Neill City, Holt County, Neb.), 04 Feb. 1909.
