A Pennsylvania father has pleaded guilty to accidentally killing his infant daughter while drunk.
Edward Doyle, of Upper Moreland, Montgomery County, pled to third-degree murder Monday in the February 2013 death of his 2-month-old daughter Makayla.
Doyle sobbed in the courtroom, saying he'd trade places with his daughter if he could.
The 30-year-old said he fell on top of the infant after drinking heavily. He then picked her up and stumbled again sending the girl's head into a wall. The girl suffered multiple rib injuries and skull fractures.
According to court records, Doyle went out drinking with a neighbor the night of Feb. 23. The neighbor, Paul Sidwell, told police that Doyle was highly intoxicated when the two left the American Legion in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Doyle came home to the Wellington Apartments on Horsham Road around 3 a.m. the next morning and played cards with some friends.
Then Doyle, his wife and Sidwell went to Sidwell's apartment down the hall, where the Doyles got into an argument over their taxes, according to court records. Doyle told police he went back home where the couple's 2-month-old daughter, Makayla and their 15-month-old daughter, Mackenzie, were sleeping.
According to the affidavit of probable cause,
"Doyle said Makayla began to cry so he removed her from the baby swing and cradled her in his arms. Doyle said he walked toward the kitchen and hit the leg of the baby swing. He said this caused him to fall forward and land on top of Makayla's body as he struck the floor."
Doyle told investigators he gave his daughter a pacifier at 7:15 and he thought she took it, but he was "groggy" at the time. He called 911 when he woke up two hours later and found Makayla in her swing "white as a ghost" and "limp."
Sentencing for Doyle will be scheduled at a later date.
PHOTO: Edward Doyle, 30, of Upper Moreland, Pa.
