GUILTY PA - Quinn Wolfe, 2 mos, beaten to death, Whitehall, 12 Nov 2013

As doctors worked furiously to save her 2-month-old daughter in St. Luke's Hospital's emergency room, Cristen Sanchez curled up in a fetal position in the corner.

Sanchez's boyfriend, Matthew Wolfe, had brought the infant to the hospital to see Sanchez, who worked there as a nurse. As soon as she saw the baby, Sanchez told a Lehigh County jury on Wednesday, she went into shock...

Sanchez, who testified at Wolfe's homicide trial, said that part of her strange demeanor at the hospital was due to her realization that Wolfe, who had been watching the baby while she worked, had injured their daughter...

In court Wednesday, Falk said an autopsy showed that Quinn suffered broken ribs, massive brain damage, a fractured skull and bleeding behind her eyes. He told jurors that Wolfe admitted to a doctor at St. Luke's that he had squeezed the baby "until he heard a crack."

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Wolfe's lawyer, Scott Wilhelm, told jurors that it was Sanchez, not his client, who caused Quinn Wolfe's November 2013 death. He urged them to find reasonable doubt...

Wilhelm told jurors that he will present evidence to prove that Cristen Sanchez had "the motive, the opportunity and the disposition" to harm her daughter. Wilhelm said Sanchez was suffering from postpartum depression at the time the baby was injured, and was struggling to care for the child, who was fussy and colicky...

Wilhelm repeatedly tried to get Sanchez to admit that she was the one who injured Quinn.

"I never ever, ever hurt her," Sanchez told the jury. "Loved her more than anything. I loved seeing her smile. Her time was cut way too short.

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After deliberating for about 10 hours Thursday, a Lehigh County jury found a man guilty of fatally abusing his 3-month-old daughter.

Matthew Wolfe, 32, was convicted of third-degree murder and child endangerment in the 2013 death of his daughter Quinn. His sentencing is scheduled for March 17, and he faces a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.

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They were objects not usually displayed in a court of law:

A tiny nightgown. A calendar of pediatrician appointments and play dates. A box containing the cremated ashes of a 2-month-old girl.

Lehigh County Judge Kelly L. Banach pored over the mementos of baby Quinn Wolfe's short life before sentencing her father, Matthew Wolfe, to 20 to 40 years in a state prison.

"You took a life. You took the life of a baby, a sweet innocent baby," Banach said. "And you did it in your role as her caretaker, her father."

Wolfe, 32, did not respond. Through his attorney, Scott Wilhelm, he asserted his innocence and vowed to appeal.

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While reading a long letter tinged with sadness and rage over her daughter's killing, Sanchez said, "For the record, I passed the polygraph."

Sanchez ticked off the milestones she wouldn't be able to share with her daughter and the hours she spent imagining how her daughter would look now, as a 3-year-old.

"Quinn was the reason I was put on this earth," she told the judge. "I couldn't wait to spoil her and have a great mother-daughter relationship, like I have with my mom ... Everything reminds me of Quinn."

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Matthew Wolfe's attorney, Scott Wilhelm, filed a motion in Lehigh County Court this week stating that a mistrial should have been declared when the defense's main witness didn't show up to testify at Wolfe's trial in January.

Wolfe, 32, was found guilty of third-degree murder and child endangerment following a week-long trial. The proceeding took a surprising turn when the defense's expert, Dr. William Manion, didn't show up for court.

Judge Kelly L. Banach denied Wilhelm's request for a mistrial. After a lengthy delay and a closed-door meeting between the judge and attorneys, Manion's report was read aloud to the jury.

In his motion for a new trial, Wilhelm laid out the steps he took to secure Manion's appearance. He stated that the doctor's failure to show up was "without cause, justification and/or explanation," and Wolfe shouldn't be punished for it.

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