A jury found Melvin Jones guilty of the felony murder of his three-month old daughter while in the commission of the offense of cruelty to children. The trial court entered a judgment of conviction on the jury’s verdict and sentenced Jones to life imprisonment. The trial court denied Jones’ motion for new trial, and he appeals.1
1. Construed most favorably for the State, the evidence shows that, before the victim was born, Jones beat her mother, Tonya Andrews, in an effort to cause a miscarriage. He also used a belt or his hands to strike the three other young children in the family. Jones testified that, while Ms. Andrews was out, he grabbed the victim from her crib by one of her arms and dropped her about 15 inches above the bed, as he had done before. After Ms. Andrews returned, Jones threatened and yelled at her. When the baby began to cry, Jones went to check on her, and Ms. Andrews fell asleep. When Ms. Andrews awoke, Jones told her that the child was not breathing. Paramedics could not resuscitate the victim, who had been dead for about 30 minutes. Jones began crying and said it was his fault. The medical examiner testified that, although the victim otherwise was in good health, one of her ribs was broken within the 24 hours preceding her death, and two others were broken two to three weeks earlier. The cause of death was a subdural hematoma, resulting from a blunt trauma to the head likely occurring between 12 and 16 hours prior to death. There was also evidence of shaken baby syndrome, which probably contributed to the victim’s death. The evidence is sufficient to support a finding that, while the victim was in Jones’ care, he fatally struck or shook her. Carter v. State, 269 Ga. 420, 422 1 499 SE2d 63 1998. Accordingly, a rational trier of fact could have found proof beyond of a reasonable doubt of Jones’ guilt of felony murder while in the commission of child cruelty. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Johnson v. State, 269 Ga. 632 501 SE2d 815 1998; Carter v. State, supra. Compare Johnson v. State, 269 Ga. 840 506 SE2d 374 1998.
