Ex-Airman Gets 18 Months’ Probation In Toddler’s Death

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“I think the jury failed, I think the judge failed and I think justice was not served,” the child’s mother said.

Justin Corbett, who was initially charged with first-degree murder in 21-month-old Evan Dudley’s death, faced up to eight years in prison after convicted in July on a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, The Associated Press reported.

On Thursday, a judge sentenced the 28-year-old to the full eight years, before suspending it for 31 days time served and probation, citing his clean criminal history and “exemplary military record,” the AP reported.

A coroner reported that her son suffered serious brain injuries, as well as a detached retina and multiple bruises to his head and body. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide by blunt-force trauma, Delaware State News reported.

Corbett had maintained that the child ― whom he was watching while the toddler’s mother, fellow airman Nicole Dudley, was serving in the Middle East ― sustained his injuries by falling down stairs.

“I’ve been in that house and have seen those stairs. It’s just not possible,” Dudley told Delaware Online of the eight carpeted steps in Corbett’s home.
“Just because you’re in the military doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be held accountable for your actions,” she later told the AP.