Dayton man who seriously injures preemie daughter gets 2 years

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

A Dayton man sentenced to prison Thursday admitted seriously injuring his 3-week-old daughter in February 2021 who was born premature.

Courtland Brett Monaghan, 31, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on Thursday following his sentencing hearing in Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Gerald Parker’s courtroom.

Monaghan will spend two years in prison for felony child endangering, according to a plea agreement, minus 93 days of jailtime credit. He also will be on parole for up to two years after he is released, court records show.

Monaghan’s daughter was taken on Feb. 28, 2021, by medics to Dayton Children’s Hospital with multiple brain bleeds, fractures to her leg and rib and bruising on her ears, arms and torso, according to a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday in court.

“Parents who harm, or allow their children to be harmed, have failed in their single most important duty of care,” the document stated. The child girl, who was “already in a fragile state from the moment she was born, wound up in the ICU at 3 weeks of age at the hands of the defendant. The defendant needs to be held accountable to maximum amount of time allowable under the terms of the plea agreement.”

Monaghan also was accused of threatening the 911 operator’s life and police had to keep him away from medics because of his aggression towards them, according to the court record.

Results of a blood test taken at Miami Valley Hospital shortly after the baby was taken to Dayton Children’s revealed Monaghan “had a combination of benzodiazepines, marijuana and methamphetamine in his system at levels indicating recent usage.”

The child is now nearly 1½ years old and remains in foster care. The document stated she apparently has recovered from her injuries but it is too early to tell whether she suffered permanent brain damage.

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