Father sentenced to 20 years in death of infant son

A Harbeson man was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the 2015 death of his eight-month-old son.

Doyle Hundley, 40, pleaded guilty to charges of murder by neglect in May but his sentencing was delayed until after charges were resolved against his partner, Casey Layton.

Layton, the mother of the infant, pleaded guilty to murder by neglect Jan. 12 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hundley and Layton’s child, Aiden, was born exposed to substances taken by Layton while she was pregnant with him.

Hundley, who appeared in court with his head shaved, his heavy-set body covered in tattoos, told Delaware Superior Court Judge Richard F. Stokes that he was devastated by the death of Aiden. 

“I will have to live with this guilt for the rest of my life,” Hundley said.

Hundley’s attorney, Jerome Capone, said the sentence had been agreed to by the prosecution and the defense. Hundley had been facing up to life in prison.

“He gave heroin a higher priority than his infant child,” Capone said. “He’s devastated that his neglect of his parental duties resulted in the death of his son. He failed his son in the most horrible of ways.”

Capone said Hundley has accepted responsibility for his actions and has been drug-free for two years.

Police began investigating Hundley and Layton after a 911 call in May 2015 reporting that Aiden was suffering a seizure and was not responsive. The boy was flown to A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, where he was admitted in critical condition with multiple broken bones and a serious head injury.

Aiden remained on life support for five months. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. Police said Aiden had numerous other injuries, including a fractured skull and clavicle, a several-weeks-old left femur fracture and an E. coli blood infection. Police said Layton and Hundley offered no plausible explanation for the injuries. Prosecutor Melanie Withers said it is unclear how Aiden got his injuries or who inflicted them.

Speaking on Aiden’s behalf at the Feb. 9 sentencing was Jennifer Perry, Aiden’s caseworker. She said when she first came in contact with Aiden, he was a broken little baby.

At that point, Stokes held up a photo of Aiden and said, “God bless this little boy!”

“He needed someone to love him,” Perry said.

Withers said from all indications, Hundley was a good father to his two children with his ex-wife, but the combination of his relationship with Layton and an addiction to Percocet, which began as a result of pain from a car accident, led Hundley down the path of drug addiction. She said Hundley has taken responsibility for his crime and was prepared to testify against Layton if the case had gone to trial.

“The best possible outcome was achieved,” Withers said, referring to the fact that Hundley and Layton were both held accountable in the eyes of the law and both will serve jail time.

“Aiden deserved their being brought to justice,” she said.

In passing the sentence, Stokes said, “This is an extremely difficult case. This young baby deserved a whole lot better.”