Prosecutor: Clark County dad ‘supposed to protect’ baby girl he killed

A Clark County man who pleaded guilty to killing his 3-month-old daughter received the maximum sentence Thursday.

Brian Hayslip, 22, pleaded guilty to charges of murder and tampering with evidence last month and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 18 to years by Clark County Common Pleas Judge Douglas Rastatter.

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He was charged in December with murder, involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of Lilly Hayslip. In an exclusive interview with the Springfield News-Sun, Hayslip admitted to shaking Lilly because she wouldn’t stop crying. He apologized then for killing her.

“I don’t know why I did it,” Hayslip said. “I really don’t. I have had anger problems my whole life.”

After Lilly was shaken, authorities said he drove her body to Mercer County in an attempt to dispose of her. Hayslip told this news organization he wasn’t trying to get rid of her and that he didn’t know she had died but panicked.

“I was honestly just driving,” he said. “I didn’t know she was gone. I was panicking. I was scared.”

MORE: Springfield father: ‘I didn’t mean to hurt her’

He said he was scared that, “I might have done something that I would regret doing.”

Public defender Shawn Murphy, who represented Hayslip in the case, didn’t return a phone call from the News-Sun seeking comment Thursday.

Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson said Lilly’s mother and family are still taking her death hard.

“The mother of this child and the grandparents are absolutely devastated,” Wilson said. “All their hopes and their dreams for this little girl — school, growing up, prom, graduation, marriage and her own grandchildren — are gone.

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“Words can’t describe the loss and the trauma,” he said of what Lilly’s mother has gone through. “She’ll never get over something like this.”

Local investigative agencies worked hard to build a case against Hayslip, Wilson said.

“The Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office did a fantastic job working together in building almost an air tight case,” Wilson said. “They were able to bring it into court and he pleaded guilty to murder and tampering with evidence.”

Hayslip originally pleaded not guilty to the charges and then changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. He was evaluated but found to not have been insane at the time of the murder, Wilson said.

“He said it was out of anger,” Wilson said. “He said he lost control with the baby. There was evidence that he abused the baby. The baby is dead and clearly this is a guy who had anger issues. It’s always a tragic when a baby dies. It’s always tragic when you have people murdered. But this is a case where the father was supposed to protect and care for and love and support the baby.”

There is never an excuse to shake a baby, Wilson said.

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“We know it gets frustrating when the baby is crying,” he said. “But your love for that baby causes you to walk away and count to 1o or do whatever it is you have to do to cope with it. His anger prevented him from doing that. Instead of walking away and doing the right thing for his baby, in a fit of rage he killed his baby.”

Wilson recommend anyone who is having anger problems to seek help, especially if they are a baby’s caretaker.


Unmatched Coverage

The Springfield News-Sun has covered the tragic death of Lilly Hayslip from day one. The paper has provided exclusive interviews with Brian Hayslip, his family and law enforcement.

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