Mt. Lebanon Man Convicted Of Killing 4-Month-Old Daughter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A Mount Lebanon man has been convicted of killing his 4-month-old daughter.
Judge Randal Todd of the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday found Joseph Gazzam, 31, guilty of third-degree murder in the November 2017 death of his daughter, Victoria.
Gazzam went for a degree of guilt hearing before Judge Todd last week after pleading guilty to criminal homicide in connection to Victoria's death, the Allegheny County District Attorney's office says.
He had already pleaded guilty to endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.
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Around noon on November 12, 2017, police were called to Gazzam's home on Osage Road for a report of a non-responsive child. Victoria was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead an hour later.
According to the medical examiner's office, the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and trunk. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Gazzam was arrested and charged with homicide, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.
Detectives said Gazzam first told them he fell asleep in bed with the infant and woke up to find her unresponsive on the floor.
Last June, detectives testified in court that Gazzam had later admitted that when his daughter wouldn't stop crying, he punched her with a closed fist in the head, the stomach and the back.
His sentencing has been scheduled for July 18th.
