A 32-year-old father from Michigan has been handed a sentence of 17 to 50 years in a state prison. This judgment comes from a 2020 incident in which he took the life of his eight-month-old child.
The sentencing was pronounced on September 11 by Judge John A. Hallacy of the 37th Circuit Court. Before this, Kyle Deering Kregling had entered a no contest plea to the charge of second-degree murder. This plea led to the dismissal of his other charges: first-degree child abuse and open murder.
The chain of events began in November 2020 when emergency services were dispatched to Kregling’s residence, following reports of an unresponsive baby. Infant Chris Kregling was promptly transferred to Bronson Methodist Hospital but, unfortunately, died two days later due to severe cranial injuries.
Kregling’s initial statement suggested that Chris had sustained his injuries from falling off a bed. However, on-scene officers speculated that the injuries did not correlate with such an accident. The suspicions were later validated by a Calhoun County Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy, confirming it was a case of homicide.
Further insights from a probable cause affidavit disclosed that on the day of the incident, Kregling had dropped Chris in their bedroom. Unable to bear the infant’s crying, he shook and eventually slammed Chris onto the floor. After the baby stopped responding, Kregling made multiple attempts to revive him, contacted Chris’s mother, and finally dialed 911.
In his concluding remarks, Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert underlined the importance of recognizing the preventable nature of such tragic child abuse deaths.