State: Jury Rules Hartford Man Guilty In Daughter's Shaking Death

HARTFORD, CT — A 28-year-old Hartford man was found guilty by a court jury in connection with the 2018 shaking death of his infant daughter.

Sharmese L. Walcott, Hartford state’s attorney, announced Monday that on Sept. 29, Edwin Babilonia, 28, of Hartford, was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor.

The jury trial was presided over by Hartford Superior Court Judge Frank M. D’Addabbo, Jr.

Following pronouncement of the verdict, Babilonia was taken into custody after his bond was set at $1 million.

Sentencing is scheduled before D’Addabbo on Dec. 9.

Babilonia’s conviction stems from the death of his 7-week-old daughter, Emily Babilonia, in Hartford in May 2018.

According to trial testimony, during the early morning hours of May 24, 2018, Emily woke up and was crying incessantly.

Babilonia and Ashley Perez-Rivera, the baby’s mother, took turns trying to console Emily, state officials said.

According to the state judicial department, Babilonia then took the baby into the bathroom, where he attempted to console her, but recklessly shook Emily, causing a massive brain bleed and spinal cord injury.

Later that morning, Babilonia and Perez-Rivera brought the baby to the hospital where her injuries were evaluated by physicians and a Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) team at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, authorities said.

Emily died due to her injuries on May 28, 2018.

Both Babilonia and Perez-Rivera were interviewed and arrested for their involvement in the death of their daughter, state officials said.

Perez-Rivera has pleaded guilty in superior court to charges of risk of injury and criminally negligent homicide for her role in the death of her daughter, according to Walcott.