Mt. Prospect man guilty of first-degree murder in his son's death
The prosecution's case against Ibrahim Kibayasi came down to one thing: intent, insisted defense attorney Robert Callahan Thursday during closing argument in Kibayasi's first-degree murder trial in the death of his infant son.
And intent was the thing that the state could not prove, Callahan said, claiming the evidence did not show Kibayasi, 31, knew that shaking 5-month-old Dylan would result in the traumatic brain injury that ultimately caused his death several days later.
Testifying in his own defense, Kibayasi insisted he never intended to hurt his son.
“I just lost my mind,” he said.
That excuse convinced neither prosecutors nor Cook County Circuit Court Judge Hyman Riebman, who found Kibayasi guilty of first-degree murder Thursday following a four-day bench trial in Rolling Meadows. The finding means Kibayasi faces between 20 and 60 years in prison when he is sentenced May 18.
Describing the case as a tragedy, Riebman pointed out that it extended beyond the baby who lost his life and the parents who lost a son to the grandparents who lost a grandchild. Kibayasi's father was the only family member to attend the trial. Dylan's mother was deported after his death to her native Tanzania after authorities say she overstayed her visa.
“No one in a murder case wants to admit they intended to kill,” said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Clarke during the prosecution's closing argument.
“Those self-serving words can be uttered by anyone,” but they're not enough, said Clarke, arguing the defendant knew his actions had a strong probability of causing Dylan serious injury or death.
Clarke, during his closing argument, replayed Kibayasi's videotaped statement in which he admitted he had a bad day and felt frustrated on Sept. 3, 2009, the day Dylan was injured.
“He took the life of a defenseless baby out of anger,” Clarke said. “What he did was nothing short of first-degree murder.”
Callahan painted a different picture of the defendant, a native of Tanzania who came to the U.S. to attend college in Atlanta. Kibayasi was excited about being a father and loved his son, Callahan said.
“No one in these circumstances is going to voluntarily kill their infant,” said Callahan who had asked the court to consider a finding of involuntary manslaughter against Kibayasi, who lived in Mount Prospect with Dylan and Dylan's mother.
Riebman rejected Callahan's request.
“There is no question that Dylan lost this life and no question as to what caused his death,” said Riebman, referring to testimony from three medical experts about injuries that resulted from what he described as “a significant amount of shaking.”
Riebman said he took the defendant's claim that he “lost his mind” to mean that he lost his temper because his job search had proved unsuccessful. But Riebman suggested the most damaging evidence against Kibayasi was his attempt “to deflect the police, (Dylan's mother) and the medical staff from the truth about the shaking” by not telling them what he'd done.
The defendant “is not a stupid man,” Riebman said, saying he knew his actions would be harmful and tried to hide the truth from police.
“He had knowledge that shaking could hurt the baby. He knew it before. He knew it after. And he knows it now.”