Man pleads guilty to the death of three-month-old

LAKE ARIEL, WAYNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The Wayne County Office of the District Attorney announced that a Lake Ariel man has entered a guilty plea in the death of an infant in 2023.

According to investigators, 26-year-old Michael Alexander Crowl entered a guilty plea to third-degree murder for causing the death of a three-month-old baby in November of 2023.

District Attorney A.G. Howell states on November 10, 2023, around 10:42 a.m. a nurse at Wayne Memorial Hospital contacted Pennsylvania State Police Honesdale stating a three-month-old Jasper Cole Sheppard-Degroot appeared to have dulled and reduced levels of alertness or consciousness.

The release states Jasper was pale, with grey lips, the skin had blotchy/spotty marks, and his breathing was slow and gasping.

From Wayne Memorial Hospital the baby was life-flighted to Geisinger to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, officials note.

Geisinger Child Abuse Pediatrician, Dr. Pat Bruno said Jasper was brain dead and the baby’s injuries were consistent with impact, shaking or shaking and impact.

As mentioned by officials Jasper’s father had been out of town and the mother moved to Kentucky one month prior leaving Jasper’s grandparents as the child’s primary caregivers.

Crowl told officials he worked for the family and helped out with whatever they needed for things such as mowing the lawn or babysitting the victim, as noted by law enforcement.

Court documents revealed Jaspers had been throwing up the night before so he was not sleeping through the night, Crowl stated to officials he was frustrated and tired that Jasper would not sleep so he shook him back and forth.

Crowl is being held in Wayne County Correctional Facility pending sentencing on October 10, 2024.

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