Cedar City • A Cedar City man was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for the death of his infant son.

Andy Roy Gorecki, 27, was sentenced by 5th District Judge G. Michael Westfall after pleading guilty to felony child abuse homicide in the death of his son Tyshaun, who was 2 months old when he was injured on Dec. 18, 2009.

The baby died the following September at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City after being removed from life support. Gorecki was originally charged with aggravated assault, but after Tyshaun's death, the charge was elevated to child abuse homicide.

An autopsy led investigators to conclude he died of injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

At Gorecki's preliminary hearing, Tyshaun's grandmother, Pearlene Aguilera, said that on the day Tyshaun was injured, she and a friend left the home in Cedar City where she lived with her daughter, who was married to Gorecki, and the couple's three children. Aguilera said her daughter had a court hearing that day and Gorecki was the only adult at home with the couple's kids and two other children.

Aguilera said when she returned home, Gorecki entered her room and told her the baby wasn't breathing. She testified that when she found Tayshaun in his crib, he had bloody foam on his nose and mouth. She accused Gorecki of pretending to show concern, including crying.

Confused and upset, Aguilera said she wrapped the infant in a blanket and drove to the hospital in Cedar City. "I was saying, 'Lord, bring him back. Take me, but bring him back,' " Aguilera said during the hearing. Once at the hospital, Tayshaun was white and limp. "I said, 'My grandson is dead,' " testified Aguilera.

At Tuesday's sentencing, Gorecki reiterated that the infant died because he hit his head on a counter after Gorecki accidentally dropped him.

"It was an accident," Gorecki told Westfall. "I'm willing to take what you give me, but I want everyone to know it was an accident."

Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett asked for the maximum penalty in the case, saying Gorecki belongs in prison.

"He is going nowhere in his life," said Garrett. "He has no job or capacity [to get one] … He is a danger to the community."

Gorecki's attorney, Jack Burns, told Westfall that Gorecki is remorseful.

Saying that "prison would be difficult on him," Burns asked that Gorecki be sentenced to a third year in the county jail where he has been since being arrested. Burns also asked for probation after his jail term, but Westfall refused and sentenced Gorecki to the maximum term to be served at Utah State Prison.

Westfall also fined Gorecki $1,000.

mhavnes@sltrib.com