In September of 2019, Damian Garrett was convicted of the murder of 21-month-old Skylar Pappel. On Friday, he was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.
According to Midland County Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks, Garrett became angry when Skylar started fussing and crying during bath time.
Garrett, 24, who was dating Skylar’s mother at the time, proceeded to smack Skylar on the back.
“He got angry and smacked her hard on the back. He says she fell forward and hit her face on the faucet for the bathtub, and she did have an injury to her mouth and lip area that was consistent with that,” Prosecuting Attorney J. Dee Brooks says.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
According to Garrett, he stepped out for “five to six minutes,” and upon his return, he found Skylar still facedown. He then called for help.
The defendant argued that Skylar “kept falling and hitting her head on the tub during the bath,” but the prosecution was weary of that reality.
Determined by medical examiners, Skylar’s official cause of death was drowning, but the head injures she sustained could very well be a factor.
Garrett, who seems to be emotional about what happened, has apologized to the family.
Brooks hopes this case “serves as a notice or education to people that you need to be careful, especially with real small children.”
“You need to be aware of … who is taking care of them and try to be sure that they have the experience and ability to do so safely because unfortunately it can only take one momentary burst of anger to do something that can’t be taken back,” Brooks says.
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