Former Hartford man gets prison for his role in the 2018 death of his 7-week-old daughter

A former Hartford man was sentenced Friday to serve 15 years in prison for his role in the death of his 7-week-old daughter in Hartford in May 2018, according to state authorities.

Edwin Babilonia, 29, was sentenced by Judge Frank M. D’Addabbo Jr. to 20 years in prison, but it will be suspended after 15 years served, and then followed by five years of probation, for his role in the death of 7-week-old Emily Babilonia, according to state authorities.

Babilonia was found guilty by a jury in September of second-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor.

In the early hours of May 24, 2018, Emily woke up crying and Babilonia and the baby’s mother, Ashley Perez-Rivera, spent hours trying to console her, according to court testimony, the State’s Attorney’s office has said. Eventually, Babilonia took the baby into the bathroom and attempted to console her. He allegedly then shook the baby and caused her to have a massive brain bleed and spinal cord injury.

The mother said she heard water running through the partially open door, and heard choking and gurgling sounds, and then heard Babilonia telling the child “to keep calm and shut up numerous times,” the police report says. The mother said she heard a thud “similar to the sound of someone’s body striking a surface,” the report says.

Hartford police were called to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center on May 24, 2018 for a report of an infant in acute distress from suspected abuse. Emily Babilonia was in the pediatric intensive care unit with injuries that would claim her life days later.

Emily Babilonia died on May 28, 2018 from her injuries, the state’s attorney’s office said.

Doctors found bruises on her arms, abdomen and neck, bleeding inside her skull, six left rib fractures and five on the right side and a fracture to her left clavicle.

The medical examiner determined the baby’s cause of death was acute and chronic blunt injuries with brain hemorrhages and rib fractures and determined the manner of death to be homicide.

Police interviewed both parents and subsequently arrested them on May 25, 2018 for their involvement in her death. Perez-Rivera pleaded guilty to risk of injury and criminally negligent homicide. She was sentenced to serve five years in prison and five years of probation.