St. Louis man gets 12 years for shooting baby with pellet gun

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) -- A suburban St. Louis man was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for shooting his 12-day-old child with a pellet gun.

Shawn Michael Mohan, 20, pleaded guilty in June to felony child endangerment. The baby was shot in Mohan's apartment in St. Charles County on Dec. 21. The child survived but suffered circular bruises on his face, arm, hand, foot, hip and buttocks.

Mohan told police the gun fell and went off as he went into the bedroom where the baby was sleeping.

Prosecutors sought the maximum 15-year sentence. Mohan had probation revoked earlier this year for another charge because of the pellet gun incident and was sentenced to four years in prison. The other charge involved a serious head injury that left Mohan's first son unresponsive when he was 3 months old. Authorities said that child has recovered.

Defense attorney Paul Kaiser said people who commit crimes such as armed robbery or manslaughter receive lesser sentences than Mohan received.

Mohan stepped during his sentencing hearing, exhaled heavily, but couldn't read a statement he had prepared, according to STLtoday.com, the Web site for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Kaiser read it for him.

"I wish I could undo my mistakes and take away the pain I have caused," Mohan's statement, in part, said.

---

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com