Grinnell man found guilty of manslaughter in daughter’s death

A Poweshiek County jury has found a Grinnell man found guilty of manslaughter in the shaking death of his three-month old daughter last January. 20-year-old Shane Dupee had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his daughter Aliyah in the Grinnell apartment he shared with the girl’s mother. Two of DuPee’s infant siblings reportedly died of a genetic brain disease, and that was part of his defense. Defense attorney Brian Early believes that the medical testimony weighed in the jury’s decision.He says he believes the jury found there was no intent to commit serious injury in the case and that there were some health problems, including genetic problems, that may’ve contributed to the girl’s death. Early says the jury did apparently believe Dupee did something that unintentionally contributed to the girl’s death. Early says the ruling means Dupee will not spend the rest of his life in jail and likely won’t serve much more time.He says the maximum sentence for manslaughter is two years, and Dupee has already served over 390 days — the maximum he must serve before parole. Early says it’s like Dupee would be released after he’s sentenced on February 24th. Poweshiek County Attorney Mike Mahaffey brought the charges against Dupee and had this reaction to today’s verdict.Mahaffey says he’s thankful the jury found that something happened for which Dupee should be punished. Mahaffey agrees the medical testimony was a key in the jury deciding against the first-degree murder charge. He says perhaps some of the other problems the child had, and the fact there hadn’t been any other reports of abuse, went into the jury’s decision to rule the death was manslaughter.