In the first instance, the decision of the Würzburg court was manslaughter. Another chamber now saw it as proven that the 25-year-old had planned the death of his girlfriend’s child.
In the appeal procedure for the violent death of a baby in Lower Franconia, the accused was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. In the first instance, the decision of the Würzburg district court was still manslaughter – eleven years imprisonment were imposed.
On Thursday, another chamber saw it as proven that the 25-year-old planned to kill his girlfriend’s child because he felt disturbed by him. He acted in inhuman hostility and selfishness, said the presiding judge. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The man is said to have abused and suffocated the eight-month-old boy shortly before Christmas 2019 in the Gemünden am Main area. The defendant has always denied this. The public prosecutor had pleaded murder on Thursday, the defense demanded manslaughter and a prison sentence of eleven years.
After examining the first judgment of February 2021, the Federal Court of Justice found that it had not been clarified with certainty whether the accused had deliberately killed the baby – so perhaps it was murder instead of manslaughter.