Milwaukee baby death, Anthoni Cirra sentenced to 20 years in prison
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of a 9-month-old child in July 2022.
Anthoni Cirra, 26, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree reckless homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. A third charge of felony bail jumping was dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
Cirra was initially charged with first-degree reckless homicide, neglecting a child (consequence is death) and felony bail jumping. In addition to prison time, he was sentenced to 15 years of extended supervision.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
Case details
According to a criminal complaint, the 9-month-old boy was admitted to the emergency department at Children's Wisconsin on the morning of July 7, 2022. The child was unresponsive and not breathing on his own. Officials said the child's injuries were "life-threatening and highly concerning for child physical abuse."
Anthoni Cirra
Investigators interviewed the mother of the boy and learned Cirra helped the mother and the child's father obtain jobs at his place of employment, the complaint states. On July 6, Cirra was off of work and volunteered to watch the boy while his parents worked. Cirra took the mother and father to work that morning, and the parents provided a diaper bag full of supplies, clothes and formula.
The complaint said Cirra picked the mother and father up from work the afternoon of July 6. The mother noticed that the child's "breathing was abnormal," per the complaint, and described it as "labored and spaced out." The mother also noticed a bruise on the child's arm that was not there before he was left in Cirra's care. When the mother asked Cirra about the child's breathing, prosecutors said he claimed the child had just fallen asleep and claimed to not know what caused the bruise.
Throughout the evening of July 6, the child's mother attempted to interact with the 9-month-old. He "remained lethargic and nonresponsive" and his "breathing became worse," the complaint said. When the mother grew more concerned, she indicated she wanted to take the child to the hospital, and the complaint said Cirra told her she was overreacting.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android
The complaint said on the morning of July 7, the mother noticed the boy's breathing "turn into more of a snore" and believed he was OK, but about 15 minutes later, Cirra woke the mother up after noticing the child was not breathing. The complaint said the boy's skin was pale, his lips were blue and he was not breathing.
Someone called 911, and the complaint noted Cirra then "said that he made a mistake and, 'This is my fault.'"
When detectives informed Cirra of the severity of the child's condition and the fact that the child would likely die, the complaint states Cirra "admitted to bouncing (the child) on his knee and holding (the child) above his head but continued to deny abusing (the child).
In an interview with police on July 8, the complaint states Cirra claimed he "dropped the car seat holding (the child) on the front porch steps. The car seat landed on its side at the bottom of the steps, but (the child) was not injured and appeared fine." Prosecutors said that was the first time Cirra dicslosed a fall involving the child.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy. The criminal complaint states the child's "injuries are consistent with sustaining blunt force trauma to the head."