PHOTO
An Invercargill man who killed his daughter initially told police he had accidentally dropped her, a court has heard.
Daniel Wallis (25) appeared in the High Court at Invercargill yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 5-month-old Hope Elizabeth McFall-Schultz.
He was originally charged with murder but that was amended by the Crown.
The facts of the case, revealed for the first time yesterday, showed Wallis eventually changed his story after his initial excuses to police.
"Hope was forcefully smacked around the head, with an open hand, two or three times," he eventually wrote through his lawyer.
The victim faced serious health challenges when she was born three months premature in August 2021.
She spent time in Invercargill Hospital and Dunedin’s neonatal unit before going home with her parents in December.
While there, Hope was subject to "extensive ongoing care and observations" and on January 19 last year she underwent a comprehensive examination by a paediatrician, who determined she was progressing well.
Just two days later, the victim’s mother fed her daughter, read her a book and settled her into a bassinet before going to see friends.
Wallis was left in charge.
Over 12 frantic minutes, the defendant called his friend three times, claiming he had dropped the baby.
During their final phone conversation, she asked Wallis if Hope was breathing.
"No," he said.
The woman got to the address and immediately took the baby — who was limp, very pale and bleeding from the nose — from him.
Wallis cleaned the scene while his daughter was rushed to hospital, where she was resuscitated and initially stabilised.
The defendant later ran there but was denied entry.
Police found him asleep in the car park.
Hope was transferred to Starship Hospital but died on January 26 last year from "catastrophic" head injuries.
When first spoken to by police, Wallis claimed he had inadvertently dropped the baby when he was trying to feed her, and she hit her head on a bottle on the floor.
He believed Hope had "come right", but said she later became unresponsive and he performed CPR on her in the kitchen.
The blood supposedly caused him to vomit, during which he said he accidentally hit Hope’s head on the bench.
A postmortem two days later proved Wallis’ explanation to be a lie.
A pathologist said Hope’s injuries were consistent with the defendant’s admission that he struck her repeatedly.
The man, who has been living in the Nelson region for several months, was declined continued bail by Justice Cameron Mander.
He will be sentenced in August.