BILLINGS — A 32-year-old man who pleaded guilty for his role in the death of his infant daughter has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The Billings Gazette reports that Jeffery Fox was sentenced Tuesday on negligent homicide charge in the 2012 death of 3-month-old Roseana Fox. He admitted he failed to stop his girlfriend, Amanda Rose Steffen, from abusing their baby, who had a fractured skull and showed signs of dehydration when she died.
Steffen was found guilty but suffering from mental illness in the child’s death and was sentenced to 40 years in the Montana State Hospital.
She admitted to hitting her daughter and blocking the baby’s airway on multiple occasions.
Fox said in court Tuesday that “what happened wasn’t right” and that he’s “a better man now.”