McKeesport man sentenced to 15 to 30 years for death shaking his infant son

A McKeesport man who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder after fatally shaking his infant son will spend at least 15 years in prison.

Michael Barber, 31, pleaded guilty on August 5 before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Satler.

On Monday, she sentenced him to 15 to 30 years in state prison.

Michael Barber Jr., who was five months old, died on September 4, 2022, four days after his father allegedly shook him so hard that he caused bleeding and swelling in his brain.

According to Allegheny County Police, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh staff discovered subdural hemorrhaging, arachnoid hemorrhaging, and cerebral edema in Michael Jr., indicating that he was shaken.

An autopsy revealed that Michael Jr. died from abusive head trauma.

Police were dispatched to the Harrison Village housing complex around 12:30 a.m. on August 31, 2022, for an unresponsive infant.

A neighbor with first-aid training told police that Barber brought the child to her early that morning. The infant was cold and didn’t breathe.

Barber told police he shook the boy twice because he was frustrated with “always being left to care for his two children.”

At the sentencing on Monday, defense attorney Brandon Herring stated that his client had struggled since his mother’s death.

Barber’s aunt, the Rev. Kim Barber, who spoke on his behalf, told the court that he had been proud to become a father when his daughter was born, as well as with Michael Jr.

“Providing for his children was never the problem,” she told me.

Her nephew also enjoyed playing with his children, she said.

“Michael’s love was tested when his mother became ill,” Kim Barber explained. “Michael is so much more than what he has pled guilty to.”

However, Deputy District Attorney Sarah Weikart told the court that Michael Barber Jr. spent more of his short life in hospitals than at home with his parents.

He was repeatedly hospitalized for failure to thrive, and doctors referred his case to ChildLine several times, according to Weikart.

She said Michael Jr. was 5 months old and weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces when he died.

When given the opportunity to address the court, Barber apologized.

“I’m not a bad person,” he explained. “I made mistakes because I was going through something. “I live this every day.”

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