Edmonton man, 22, pleads guilty in death of two-month-old girl

A 22-year-old man who admits he shook a two-month-old girl hard enough to cause significant brain damage haspleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

After the baby was hospitalized in July 2016, Brandon JamesCalahoowas initially charged with aggravated assault.

RaelynSupernant died less than two weeks later. Following the results of an autopsy, the charge was upgraded in January 2017 to second-degree murder.Calahooalso facedone count of failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Not the biological father

The child started crying at around 5:30 a.m. on July 25, 2016, which woke Calahoo up,according to an agreed statement of facts.

He "shook the girl with both hands by the body and the head" and left her unresponsive in her crib.

Four hours later, the girl's biological mother, CarleySupernant, tried to feed her daughter and became concerned that she was unresponsive.

Calahoo, who was not the baby's biological father,told Supernant to leave the child in her crib.

It wasn't until Supernant told a friend about her baby's unresponsiveness that they took Raelyn to the Stollery Children's Hospital. Her right eye was swollen and a CT scan showed "significant hemorrhaging to Raelyn's brain."

Two days later, Calahoo told a social worker he dropped the baby after his left arm "had a spasm" and her head hit the crib. He then admitted he shook the baby, but not hard.

On July 28, another CT scan showed "severe trauma to the brain and continued death of brain cells." Doctors said if Raelyn did survive, "she would have severe neurological impairment." The baby was removed from the respirator that day andhad intravenous nutritional fluids removed on Aug. 3.

She died on Aug. 8.

Edmonton police did not make the baby's death orCalahoo'scharges publicuntil Thursday.

"The long timeline and the long delay there resulted in an anomaly where there was some accidental oversight and a press release wasn't issued," police spokesperson Cheryl Voordenhoutsaid Thursday. "The press release fell through the cracks."

Calahoois scheduled tobe sentenced onJune 29.

• Mystery homicide raises Edmonton's total to 41 killings for the year