Man gets life term in baby’s death

Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1998 | 10:53 a.m.

A 21-year-old man who shook his pregnant girlfriend's baby to death in Boulder City has been sentenced to life in prison and won't be eligible for parole until he has served 10 years.

Steven Dunham had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 10-month-old Christina Keeling, although he had maintained from the beginning that the baby's injuries were accidental. He told authorities the baby had fallen off a couch and been dropped while being tossed into the air.

But Deputy District Attorney Tom Carroll said there were a series of injuries before the baby's Nov. 16, 1996, death that only could have resulted from shaken-baby syndrome.

Carroll said that wile Dunham has been in jail awaiting resolution of his case, the victim's mother, Michelle Keeling, has given birth to their child.

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