LISBON - A Leetonia man who had previously been accused of killing his 7-week-old son in July 2007 will be spending five years in a state correctional facility on a charge of endangering children.

Justin Snow, 28, Oak Street, had been indicted in February, 2008, of involuntary manslaughter and a second-degree felony charge of endangering children. He entered a plea agreement Oct. 6 to plead guilty only to a third-degree felony charge of endangering children, for which he would spend five years in prison.

County Common Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike sentenced Snow in accordance with the plea agreement, which included the prosecution not pursuing a probation violation against Snow for an attempted unlawful sexual conduct conviction from 2007. In that case, Snow had pleaded guilty to the charge, which involved his conduct with a 15-year-old girl in 2005.

While a previous investigation had reveled that Snow's son, Isaac Mason McDaniel, had suffered head trauma, Snow's attorney, James Hartford, introduced an investigation from Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams that stated the infant showed no definite signs of trauma.

Pike acknowledged Williams is not intimately involved in the case. However, Tammy Jones, who was filling in for Assistant Prosecutor Tim McNicol, noted the defense had hired Williams to perform an investigation separate from the prosecution's.

"Justin Snow has always maintained that he did nothing to this child," Hartford told the court.

The attorney said Snow had left his son alone upstairs in his home, heard him in distress, found him vomiting and called 911. The boy was then transported to Salem Community Hospital, where he died.

"I miss my son a lot and every day that goes by, I think of him," Snow told the courtroom.

Hartford noted during the seven-month investigation into his son's death, Snow voluntarily cooperated with investigators and offered to take a polygraph test, although he never received one.

"All we're asking for in this case is a just and constitutional sentencing," he told Pike.

Pike seemed confused with Hartford's continued arguing of the point, noting Snow had already entered a plea agreement and with it was no longer being charged with manslaughter.

Jones read statements prepared by the infant's mother and maternal grandmother, Holly McDaniel and Cathy Fishel.

"What kind of man hurts an innocent child ... There are no words to describe the hate I have for you," McDaniel's statement read, addressing Snow.

She noted her son was just starting to smile at the end of his life and said her daughter still tells her how she misses her brother.

"It is so painful to know that he died the way he had ... He shouldn't have lost his life just because Justin lost his temper," Fishel's statement read, adding that she had broken her promise to her grandchildren to always protect them.

Speaking before the court, Fishel said the case had been going on for too long and she wanted to see it put to a rest.

Snow's parents, aunt and great-aunt were present in the courtroom as well, but none offered any written or verbal statements.

McNicol had previously noted Dr. Lisa Kohler of the Summit County Coroner's Office discovered during the autopsy that the child's skull was fractured and the injuries that caused his death were inflicted immediately before he showed signs of illness.

McNicol also noted the child had a fresh bruise on top of his head, which is a sign of bleeding on the brain, and injuries to his eyes were consistent with being shaken.

mschomer@mojonews.com