Father Of Chance Walsh Gets Prison Time
The man who physically abused and then killed his newborn son during a drug-fueled rage has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
The plea reached between prosecutors and Joseph Walsh, 38, comes with a 45-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors described the house of horrors in North Port that little Chance Walsh lived in during his brief life. They say that there was the constant abuse of the infant, culminating on Sept. 16, 2015, when Chance’s father stuffed a baby wipe down his throat.
He then apparently tried to remove the wipe using a pair of needle nosed pliers, cutting the baby’s tongue in the process. Chance died a day later.
Joseph Walsh and his wife Kristen Bury, left their child to rot in his crib for about a week before wrapping it in plastic bags and putting the remains in a laundry basket kept in a closet.
The couple then put Chance’s remains in a shallow grave not far from their house. Kristen Bury was convicted of failing to protect her baby and sentenced to 25 years in prison. She committed suicide in jail while awaiting transfer to state prison.