A Juneau man has pleaded guilty to killing a one-month-old infant in his care last year.
Superior Court Judge Amy Mead took a plea deal earlier this week for 45-year-old James White, who was charged with second-degree murder. In an agreement with the state, prosecutors dismissed three lesser charges.
Mead will sentence White later this year to serve between 20 and 99 years in prison, but he can only serve a maximum of 40 years of active jail time.
Juneau police arrested White in November. His arrest came seven months after emergency responders were called to a hotel in Juneau last spring following a report that an infant wasn’t breathing.
Bartlett Regional Hospital later pronounced the baby girl dead due to “significant physical injuries to the head.” An autopsy showed blunt force injury to the head as the cause of her death.
White was the infant’s caregiver at the time of the incident and was at the hotel with other children when responders arrived. He denied any wrongdoing at the time and was not arrested.
A spokesperson for the Juneau Police Department said it took a months-long investigation to gather enough probable cause to eventually arrest him for the infant’s death.
White was already being held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center for a prior alleged domestic violence assault when he was charged. He’s since been transferred to Goose Creek Correctional Center in Wasilla and is not allowed bail leading up to his sentencing.
Clarification: Judge Mead can still decide to reject White’s plea at a later date.
