Man Who Kicked Wife, Sent Baby Over Balcony, Gets 21 Years

CHICAGO (STMW) -- Jeremiah Elijah Williams was only 5 weeks old when the man who claimed to be his father sent the newborn crashing to his death from a third-story porch.

On Tuesday, Jason Range was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the 2009 incident that stemmed from a heated argument between Range and his wife, Jeremiah's mother.

Range's wife had confronted her husband, possibly to tell him she was moving out of their apartment in the 8200 block of South Maryland, police said at the time.

During the argument, she grabbed a car seat with Jeremiah inside. Range kicked his wife — causing the car seat to fall from the third-floor railing and the baby to fall out of the seat and hit the ground, authorities said.

Although Range told police he was Jeremiah's father, the boy's mother said another man fathered the child. That man, D'Angelo Smith, also said the baby was his.

Smith said it was hard for him to accept the fact that he cannot hold the child again.

"He was only five weeks old. His life had just begun," Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Nina Ricci said, reading from Smith's victim-impact statement.

"Life has been so different and difficult. It has been very hard to continue as if nothing happened. I can't get the image out of my head, seeing my child in a coffin as well as burying him. No parent should have to do this."

Range, 22, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated domestic battery and battery.

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