PORTLAND, Oregon — A man was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years in prison for killing his girlfriend's 1-year-old son in Gresham in September 2017.
Shalondre Adams, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree assault and first-degree manslaughter, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
Police arrested Adams on Sept. 23, 2017, two days after he violently assaulted Dominick Smith, the son of his girlfriend at the time. The boy was found not breathing at a home on Southeast 169th Avenue near Stark Street.
According to the district attorney's office, Adams was in a relationship with the child's mother and had become a primary caretaker for the boy while his mother was at work.
Investigators determined the boy died of a traumatic brain injury. Police did not find a motive for the killing.
Adams had been arrested in April 2017, less than six months before the deadly assault, on charges of domestic violence assault, menacing and criminal mischief, records show.
"Dominick’s life was unnecessarily and unjustifiably taken," said Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Amanda Nadell. "While no outcome in the justice system will ever bring him back to his family, it is our hope that the family can find some peace through Mr. Adams taking responsibility for his actions.”
