Joseph Dawson admitted he shook his three month old son, Dillon, to death last year and injured his then three year old stepson. He plead guilty to child abuse causing death and abuse causing injury. Prosecutors detailed the two children's nightmarish contact with Dawson in Saint Albans. They said he put a nine volt battery in the child's mouth to see what would happen before shaking Dillon so severely he died of internal bleeding and brain swelling. The stepson had a plastic bag put over his head, was held underwater in a bathtub and had his collarbone broken.

"I had a choice in everything I did. I had a choice, and I hate the choices and the decisions that I made every single day. I still think about Sam. I still think about Dillon.", said Joseph Dawson.

Inside the courtroom it was clear that Dawson was going to go to prison. The prosecution was stuck with its 30 year year plea deal, but the judge had another number in mind. The sentence was 45 years. Dawson will be eligible for parole after serving only a quarter of his sentence.