Texas man’s sentence in the death of his girlfriend’s 7-week-old baby is upheld

The 50-year sentence for a Springtown man convicted of causing fatal severe head trauma to his girlfriend's 8-week-old crying son has been upheld by an appeals court.

Kaleb Ray Eisenmann, now 25, was charged in 2019 with several offenses in connection with injuring 7-week-old Jax Eisenmann, a child he was raising with his girlfriend.

A Parker County jury convicted Eisenmann of first-degree felony injury to a child and sentenced him to 50 years behind bars. During the trial, the jury was shown an interview between Eisenmann and a Parker County Sheriff's Department investigator where he made several inculpatory statements, including: “I was getting frustrated and I was just trying to get him to calm down.” “I didn’t slam him, but did set him down really hard… and his head did bounce up.” “I picked him up a little hard but… it was hard enough to probably cause an injury.”

During the trial, Eisenmann testified that he suffers from bipolar syndrome and, sometimes, he gets frustrated and has “fits”, which he said can happen instantaneously and come and go rapidly. He admitted being frustrated with Jax on February 14 and having “a fit” and set him down in frustration.

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“This was an abusive head trauma case,” said Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain. “Essentially, Mr. Eisenmann became frustrated because Jax would not stop crying. He either put him down very hard or shook him vigorously, causing irreparable brain damage.”

More than half a dozen North Texas medical professionals testified the boy's injuries were caused by head trauma and not a virus, as the defense expert, a medical examiner from Williamson County, testified in the trial. Eisenmann’s attorneys also attempted to cast blame for the boy's injuries onto another man.

In his appeal, Eisenmann claimed that Judge Craig Towson, who presided over the trial, erred in his jury instructions, including unnecessary definitions and lesser included offenses for the jury’s consideration. The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth said those claimed errors were without merit and upheld the verdict.