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Monrovia resident Jason Michael Colley, 42, a former 10-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree assault in connection to the death of his infant daughter Harper on Oct. 31, 2017, the state’s attorney for Frederick County announced.
Colley entered an Alford plea in Frederick County Circuit Court on Thursday, Aug. 4.
An Alford plea “is a type of guilty plea in which a defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial,” according to prosecutors.
On Sept. 17, 2017, Maryland State Police troopers responded to the 12000 block of Fingerboard Road in Monrovia for the report of a sick or injured child, prosecutors said.
The call from Colley came in as a 6-month-old infant that was having seizures and not breathing, they noted.
The infant was transported to Shady Grove Hospital in Montgomery County, and was later flown to Children’s Hospital in the District of Columbia where she later was pronounced dead.
The lengthy investigation determined that the infant’s traumatic brain injury could not have been caused by accident or illness, but by an intentional act.
Prosecutors argued that Colley should face a term of between eight and 18 years behind bars, though Judge Julia Martz-Fisher sided with the defense and sentenced the former cop to a combined 50 years suspending all but eight years to be served on private home detention.
Colley will also serve five years of supervised probation and has been forbidden from engaging in physical punishment of children.
Officials noted that the plea agreement came following four days of jury selection for “what was slated to be a lengthy trial.”
“The death of this child is certainly a tragedy and is also certainly a crime,” State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said in a statement.
"Maryland state guidelines are in place to ensure consistency in sentencing. We strongly believe a guidelines prison sentence was warranted, but the judge believed differently.”
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