Frustrated Gamer Dad Shook Infant Daughter To Death, Left Baby ‘Bleeding From The Brain, Eyes’

A Pennsylvania gamer father has been accused of shaking his own 5-month-old daughter to death in frustration after being insulted by another player during an online video game, leaving the poor infant “bleeding from the brain and eyes" in 2018.

Zion Shockley, 22, of Coatesville, has been sentenced to 31 to 62 years in prison for the 2018 death of his 5-month-old daughter Rosalie Faith Crothers-Shockley after allegedly violently swinging her to death. He was originally charged with first-degree murder in the infant's death, but he subsequently pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of a child, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

On Feb. 10, 2018, police officers responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive infant at a home on Harmony Street and rushed the newborn to Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville. The infant was later transferred to Nemours Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware for advanced treatment. However, the baby was pronounced dead on Feb. 12. The victim was found “bleeding from the brain and eyes," according to the medical staff.

The brutal attack reported occurred after tthe infant's mother dropped her daughter off for a weekend visit on Feb. 9 with a then-18-year-old Zion who was staying at his grandparents' house, according to Law & Crime.

Zion, who was playing the online video game “Call of Duty” on his PlayStation, allegedly picked up the victim, threw her in the air, and then shook her violently for a minute because another online player had mocked him and called him a failure.

After shaking the baby violently for several minutes, Zion realized that the newborn had stopped breathing. However, he went on and proceeded with his day as if nothing had happened. The incident was reported to the police after the defendant’s father found the infant non-responsive the next day and placed the 911 call.

Following an investigation into the incident, the police officers discovered that about six weeks before the incident, Zion had similarly expressed frustration while playing video games and took out that frustration by violently shaking the child “for five minutes.”

“The trauma inflicted on this 5-month-old child is unfathomable, especially given it was her father’s rage over a video game that caused it,” Deb Ryan, Chester County District Attorney said in a statement following the sentencing hearing.

“No child should ever have to endure what this baby did. Judge Carmody’s sentence, hopefully, brings peace and justice to the mother and family of the victim, ” he added.