Father faces trial in shaking death of his 3-month-old

A Mayfair man was held for trial Wednesday on third-degree murder and child endangerment in the April 25 shaking death of his 3-month-old daughter.

According to testimony at the preliminary hearing in Philadelphia Municipal Court, James Foster, 25, called 911 at 5:25 a.m. on April 25 reporting that his daughter, Savannah Foster, had stopped breathing after she appeared to gag on milk and he shook her twice.

But Sylvester Juaquee, an inmate who met Foster shortly after his arrest, said Foster told him he killed his daughter because he was angry at his wife for leaving him with the baby, who would not stop crying. Juaquee testified that Foster wanted him to suggest a voodoo priest to help him with his situation.

Assistant Philadelphia Medical Examiner Christopher Brennan testified that Savannah had no outward signs of injury. The autopsy, however, showed the infant had tearing and bleeding in the brain and detached retinas, which Brennan he said could have come from her body being forcefully shaken and stopped. - Joseph A. Slobodzian