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Provo • A Utah County man was sentenced to prison for up to five years Tuesday in connection with the 2012 death of his girlfriend's 3-month-old son — a hearing that was punctuated by an angry outburst from the defendant's uncle.
Under a plea bargain, prosecutors had recommended probation for Joshua Jay Harding, who pleaded no contest in Provo's 4th District Court last month to one count each of third-degree felony child abuse and misdemeanor negligent homicide in the death of Paxton Stokes.
The prosecutors also agreed to recommend that the felony be reduced to a misdemeanor conviction once the 32-year-old Harding — who has maintained this innocence — completes probation, according to plea agreement documents.
Judge Derek Pullan, however, said the law requires accountability and ordered Harding to prison for zero to five years, with a one-year term for the misdemeanor to run concurrently. The judge noted that no contest pleas are treated the same as guilty pleas.
When Pullan announced the sentence, Harding's uncle, Rio Honaker, jumped up and shouted at the baby's family: "You people disgust me. You're disgusting."
Honaker was removed briefly from the courtroom and Pullan threatened to hold him in contempt of court.
"I can't allow people to be shouting in my courtroom," the judge told Honaker when he was brought back before him.
However, Pullan decided not to impose sanctions, citing what the man was going through, and Honaker apologized.
Harding and the baby's mother, Brianna Brown, were each charged with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony, nearly a year after police responded on Nov. 27, 2012, to a 911 for help at the couple's Provo home. Paxton was found unresponsive and not breathing in his bassinet and the child was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.
An autopsy later determined that the baby died of a "non-accidental closed head injury." In addition, the medical examiner found bruising on the baby's forehead, face, neck, leg and hip, according to charges filed in the case.
Brown, 31, was never suspected of actually killing her child, but prosecutors initially believed she knew, or should have known, that Harding was a risk to the child. As the case proceeded, they became convinced Brown was unaware that her boyfriend, who is not the baby's biological father, was injuring the boy.
The mother ultimately pleaded guilty to three third-degree felony counts of child endangerment, which related to having marijuana in the home with her children, not to any physical abuse. She was sentenced in November 2014 to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.
Pullan made his sentencing decision after hearing from Harding's supporters, who insisted he did not cause the child's injuries, and from Paxton's mother and other family members, who asked the judge to mete out the maximum punishment.
Fawn Hamm, Harding's mother, made an emotional plea for mercy, noting that her son has children of his own.
"We don't need fathers taken away anymore," a sobbing Hamm said.
Honaker said his nephew was not capable of hurting a child and also asked for leniency.
But Brown claimed Harding pretended to be her support while he was harming Paxton. And her mother, Linda Brown, said she was sickened by what happened to her grandson.
"Joshua Harding needs to pay for what he did," the grandmother said.
The baby's paternal grandmother, Kathy Stokes, agreed, saying Harding should serve prison time.
Although Harding says he never harmed Paxton, he acknowledged in plea agreement documents that prosecutors had evidence proving he was taking care of the infant on the day he died. Investigators have said he was the only person who had access to the infant during critical time windows in the case.
Harding's defense attorney said the no contest plea came down to a "risk assessment," because if found guilty of a child abuse homicide, his client would likely serve 20 years in prison.
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