Man Pleads Guilty To Killing 7-Week-Old Son Whose Fussing Interrupted Video Game

Joseph McDonald, the father of a 7-week-old baby, pleaded guilty to child homicide for killing his baby son Lucas by shaking him, placing him on his rocker and then going back to playing video games before he fell asleep.

The mother of the baby said that McDonald has no right to be called a parent. “He doesn’t have the right to the title of being a dad as far as I’m concerned, so I think that will be his life sentence,” said the baby's mother, Sam Duckmanton, to 9News.

McDonald was charged with the sentence of murder last year in November for killing the baby. The addicted video gamer got frustrated when the baby kept on fussing, disturbing his game.

“The noise of Lucas crying because he was in the same lounge room was interrupting his game... he couldn’t concentrate on his game,” Lucas’ grandmother Sharon Mills said. “He couldn’t play his game, so he broke.”

McDonald shook and knocked baby Lucas’ head on the ground so hard that he sustained severe head injuries on Oct. 24 last year. He then lied to his partner and the doctors about what happened, which delayed the detection of the blunt force trauma caused to the baby’s head.

The baby was initially taken to the hospital in Benalla with life-threatening injuries and was later on transferred to the Monash Children’s hospital. McDonald then fled from the hospital when the baby’s scan showed that the injuries were not caused by accident and that he would not survive from the blunt force trauma.

After some time, he surrendered to the police once the investigators released his footage, requesting him to come forward.

Duckmanton said that her son was perfect in every way and she regrets not protecting him. “I couldn’t protect him because I trusted Joseph... I loved him," she said.

The 23-year-old Benalla man appeared in the court on Dec. 4 and admitted to child homicide. He is facing 20 years in jail. His lawyers informed that some of the issues that he has to address are anger management, cannabis use and addiction to violent video games.