Crawfordsville man gets 30 years in infant son’s death

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (AP) – A 26-year-old Indiana man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the beating death of his infant son.

Steven Allen Filley of Crawfordsville was sentenced Monday after reaching a plea agreement. The 26-year-old faced child abuse-related charges after his 5-month-old son died of multiple blunt force traumas to the head. Authorities say the child died June 12 after being removed from life support at an Indianapolis hospital where he’d been for several days.

The (Lafayette) Journal and Courier reports Filley cried while family and police testified at the sentencing hearing. The baby’s mother, Heather Gullion took the stand whispering through sobs that having to watch your son die is “nothing a parent should have to go through.”

Filley’s defense attorney argued that Filley endured similar abuse in foster and adoptive care.