Powers, 24, was co-parenting his 2-month-old child, Kiara, at a residence on Merlin Way when the incident occurred, according to prosecutors. He went to Texas after the death of his daughter and was arrested there after he was indicted in December.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Jennifer McElfresh noted Powers conviction in Oklahoma in 2019 for assault and battery and said Kiara “had some of the most significant brain trauma that this court has ever heard of.”
Powers could receive an additional four years in prison depending on his behavior while incarcerated.
During trial, the jury saw body camera footage of a Fairfield police officer doing chest compressions with his thumbs in an attempt to revive Powers’ daughter as she lay on the floor in a pink sleeper.
Paramedics were unsuccessful. The infant was pronounced dead on May 10, 2022.
Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Lindsay Sheehan said Powers recklessly abused the baby, causing her death, according to trial evidence.
Defense attorney Aricia Underwood said her client, who often cared for his daughter alone, was “careful; he was loving.”
Underwood termed the incident a “tragic accident.”
The child’s mother, Kylee Johnson, noticed bruising on the child’s chin area, which Powers said happened when he was burping her, according to prosecutors.
The baby’s vomiting was noted by the mother on April 22, 2022, and on May 9, 2022, after a doctor’s appointment with an ultrasound to try to determine the source of the vomiting. Powers had care of the baby.
At about 8 p.m. that night, Powers messaged the mother saying the child had vomited all over him. He later told detectives he had put her down “harder than normal,” according to court documents.
The child never again appeared neurologically normal, had seizures and screamed all night until Powers called 911 about 5 a.m. May 10, 2022, according to prosecutors. The baby was lifeless when emergency crews arrived, according to prosecutors.
An autopsy revealed Kiara suffered a massive head injury that killed her on May 10, 2022, and had additional healing brain injuries.
Powers gave no statement before sentencing.
Johnson cried as she asked the judge to give Powers the maximum sentence.
“He needs to realize what he did wrong and I feel like he does not realize that at all,” the child’s mother said.
Underwood read a letter from Powers’ brother in Oklahoma who said he and his wife know Powers as a caring person and if he was given community control, he could live with them.
“We can help him be a better version of himself,” James Powers said in the letter.
Underwood said Powers was raised in foster care and always wanted a family.
“There was no malice in John’s heart in this particular situation,” she told the judge.
But, Assistant Prosecutor Kraig Chadrick said jail phone records and information from other inmates paint a different picture.
“I have never received so much information from jail after a verdict on behalf of the state,” he said.
Multiple people came forward to speak to prosecutors about Powers’ changed behavior since the verdict.
“The constant statement is after he (Powers) was found not guilty, he turned a switch. He went from this is a big misunderstanding to ‘I am going to walk’,” Chadrick said. According to inmates, Powers said “I got away with murder.”
Some of the statements were so upsetting to other inmates that Powers was assaulted, according to Chadrick.
Chadrick said in this case he believes the jury got the verdict wrong and just could not get past the term “murder” in the charge without knowing exactly what happened.
“I certainly respect our system of justice, it is the best system on the face of earth. But in all honesty, I think the jury got it wrong ... it is such a high bar. It is clear they got lost in the word murder and didn’t look at the elements,” Chadrick said.
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