Jury: 20 years to life for man who killed infant daughter

A Las Vegas man should spend 20 years to life in prison for the shaking death of his infant daughter, jurors decided Friday.

A day earlier, the same Clark County jury convicted Justin Forsgren of first-degree murder and child abuse charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Forsgren, now 36, shook 3-month-old Rayea, who was born premature, and possibly threw her into a bed. The girl was hospitalized for the first two months of her life and abused for a month until she died in Feb. 2012, prosecutors said.

Forsgren spoke to jurors before they handed down the sentence, but he did not plead for a lighter sentence. The jury had three options: life in prison without parole, 20 years to life or 20 to 50 years in prison.

“It all equates to the same,” Forsgren said.

The day Rayea died “my world stopped,” he added. “I never intended for her to die.”

Defense lawyers had argued that the death was a “tragic accident,” and Forsgren had told police that he accidentally dropped the child on her head.

Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee asked jurors to consider that Forsgren was “overwhelmed” and did not have the ability to take care of his daughter.

Rayea had suffered 27 rib fractures and clavicle fractures as a result of “systematic” abuse, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Staudaher. The child’s fate, the prosecutor said, was “cast in stone.”

Investigators spoke with Forsgren at his home near Swenson Street and Desert Inn Road after Rayea was injured, and Forsgren could not provide a timeframe for his daughter’s injuries, according to authorities. He told investigators he had just fed her a bottle and was attempting to burp her.

Forsgren’s girlfriend, Rayea’s mother, arrived at the home with her 10-year-old daughter.

Forsgren conducted CPR on the baby while the mother called 911.

Forsgren told police he had smoked methamphetamine the day before he dropped his daughter but denied being under the influence of drugs when his daughter was injured.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker