- GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING
A Montana man was thrown in jail after blinding a one-year-old he reportedly referred to as a ‘b****’ and ‘devil child.’
Adam Paul Walker, 43, was slapped with 20 years in prison on Thursday for the 2018 aggravated assault of a baby girl left in his care.
Walker pleaded no contest as Yellowstone County Judges were presented with evidence that he shook and blinded the 13-month old, sending her to intensive care.
He was watching the girl while her mother was out. He was reportedly in a tumultuous relationship with the mother, but was not the child’s father.
She discovered her daughter suffering injuries after she was left in Walker’s care, and when Walker called 911, he said they noticed slowed breathing and a ‘dazed’ look in the baby’s eyes, reported the Billings Gazette.
Walker claimed the little girl had fallen and hit her head.
EMTs took her to a hospital in Billings, Montana. Law enforcement later found that Walker drove under the influence to meet them there.
He then allegedly told hospital staff the injured girl’s name was spelled ‘b***.’ His attorney claimed the defendant was referring to her mother.
Adam Paul Walker, 43, pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and a misdemeanor DUI
Other records indicated Walker often spoke disparagingly of the child.
According to the 2018 filing, he told officers in the emergency room that he ‘hated the little red-headed child’ and that ‘she was evil.’
In text messages, the Billings Police Department reported, Walker called her a ‘devil baby.’
Yellowstone County Attorney Arielle Dean said Walker’s actions had irrevocably harmed the little girl.
‘She will never reach her pre-injury potential. Ever,’ Dean told the judge.
Her injuries included hemorrhaging of her brain and both eyes. She was taken to the pediatric intensive care unit in Salt Lake City for treatment.
Photos presented during the trial showed the girl with breathing tubes and an IV in her ankle.
Walker was sentenced to 20 years at the Montana State Prison
Doctors reportedly told investigators that she showed telltale signs of shaken baby syndrome.
They noted the damage could not have been the result of an accidental injury, preexisting condition or reasonable discipline, per KULR8.
Nearly a decade later, she undergoes frequent physical and occupational therapy and has almost no vision at all.
‘Her entire brain was injured. Her eyes were so damaged that her sight was taken from her,’ said Dean.
She reportedly told the court that Walker delayed proper treatment for the child by not being honest about what happened to her.
‘She will never be the person she was born to be because of what the defendant did to her,’ Dean said.
Walker’s attorney, Daniel Ball, said his client should receive a suspended sentence due to past trauma
Walker’s attorney, Daniel Ball, argued for a suspended sentence due to PTSD Walker acquired while deployed in the Air Force.
Walker was officially charged with a misdemeanor DUI and aggravated assault. Charges for tampering with evidence were dropped.
He is set to serve 20 years in Montana State Prison with five years suspended for aggravated assault. The judge ordered an additional day in jail for his DUI offense.
Walker left the courtroom in handcuffs.
The Daily Mail contacted the Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office and Walker’s attorney for comment.
