Marine to be jailed 6 years in infant’s death

Marine to be jailed 6 years in infant’s death
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, November 6, 2008

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Lance Cpl. James J. Boston showed no visible reaction Tuesday when he was sentenced to six years in prison for shaking his 2-month-old daughter to death in January.

Convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a six-day trial for murder, Boston told the court-martial panel that he will always love the baby who died in his arms.

"We had two wonderful months with Tahirah," he said softly while standing in front of the six officers who convicted him. "She was our pride and joy."

According to testimony, Boston was alone with Tahirah on Jan. 28 when she stopped breathing in the Ishikawa apartment he shared with the child’s mother, Lance Cpl. Eltrena Johnson. Tahirah was revived and rushed to a local hospital, where she was placed on life support.

She remained in a coma and died Feb. 10 in the Navy Medical Center in San Diego. Doctors who treated her diagnosed shaken baby syndrome. An autopsy listed the death as a homicide caused by non-accidental trauma.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58642