{Charleston, West Virginia}...Friday, Larry Hayes Jr. of Charleston was sentenced to the maximum of 40 years in prison after being found guilty in August of child abuse causing death. Hayes was babysitting his girlfriend's daughter, 18 month old Rebecca McDaniel, on September 30, 2010 when the girl suffered a severe head wound. McDaniel died a few days later. Dr. Manuel Caceres, medical director at Charleston Area Medical Center Women's and Children's Hospital, testified that McDaniel's injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome with impact -- meaning that Hayes probably shook the child before her head struck a hard surface, like a floor or table. But, Dr. Thomas Young, a forensic pathologist based out of Kansas, testified via video that the child's fracture, which covered over a quarter of her skull, could have been caused by an accident that she had several days before her death, when she fell from a stair in her home and hit her head on a plastic, toy four-wheeler.
