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Former Fort Carson soldier gets 44 years for killing infant

Posted at 4:17 PM, Jul 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-26 18:18:03-04

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A former Fort Carson soldier who killed his girlfriend’s infant daughter has been sentenced to 44 years in prison.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports 28-year-old Branden Harms was sentenced Tuesday for the beating death of 4-month-old Ava Bermudez, who he was baby-sitting while her mother was away from her home in Fountain on April 18, 2016.

He told the court he lost control when he couldn’t keep the girl calm and he began to excessively spank her. He also choked her and threw her into her crib so hard that she split its wooden bottom and fell through to the floor.

Harms is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who served as a scout in a Fort Carson unit at the time of the child’s death.