Dad gets 15 years for shaking infant

PEORIA, Ill. -- A 27-year-old Peoria man will spend at least 12 years in prison for shaking his infant daughter for "fussing," causing her to go blind and have brain-development problems.

Circuit Judge Thomas Abel on Friday sentenced Tracy Stinson to 15 years for shaking 2-month-old Jennifer last April.

Prosecutors had agreed to a plea bargain that reduced the sentence from a possible maximum of 30 years, but they said the prison term does not atone for the aggravated battery.

"The bill of indictment hardly does justice to what Mr. Stinson did to this little girl," Assistant State's Attorney Charles Thorbjornsen said. "He ruined the life of another human being."

A neurologist from the University of Illinois School of Medicine at Peoria testified that Jennifer cannot speak or walk and has abnormal brain growth. The girl's foster mother also testified that she has trouble swallowing formula and must have her throat massaged while eating.

Stinson said he had no idea he had shaken his daughter hard enough to cause harm.