Daniel Wallis, 25, appeared in the High Court at Invercargill on Tuesday after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of his daughter, Hope Elizabeth Wallis McFall-Schultz.
During the sentencing, Hope’s mother revealed how the death of her daughter had affected her.
"You have taken my joy and ripped motherhood away from me," she said in a statement.
The 5-month-old had been born three months premature.
She was released from the hospital on December 21, 2021.
One month later, Hope was at home when her mother fed and settled her, leaving Wallis to look after the baby.
That night, the defendant called a woman who was Hope’s grandmother figure and told her his daughter had been crying since the mother left.
Then he video-called her asking for help, saying he had dropped the baby.
Five minutes later, the woman asked if the girl was breathing and Wallis replied no.
When the woman arrived, she saw Hope was unresponsive, limp, pale and bleeding from her nose.
Wallis then ran to the hospital but was denied access. Later, police found him asleep in the carpark.
Hope died from her injuries five days later.
The defendant’s initial explanation was that his baby had wriggled out of his arms and landed head first. Hope later became unresponsive.
Wallis performed CPR on the victim and saw she was bleeding. He said the sight of the blood made him vomit in the sink and accidentally hit Hope’s head on the bench.
A post mortem revealed Hope’s head injuries did not match that explanation.
He later admitted: "Hope was forcefully smacked around the head, with an open hand, two or three times".
A pathologist confirmed the injuries were consistent with that explanation.
Counsel Michael Vesty
acknowledged family, hospital staff and police involved in the case, who had all been affected by Hope’s death.
"Mr Wallis was repulsed by his own actions, he was in a state of panic."
Justice Melanie Harland took into account Hope’s vulnerability, the breach of trust and the violence involved in the offending when sentencing Wallis on Tuesday.
"It is hard to imagine a more vulnerable victim."
The judge accepted that Wallis was exhausted, overwhelmed and stressed at the time of the offending and that it was spontaneous.
"The sentence imposed today does not put a value on Hope’s life. That is incalculable."
