(AP) -- A St. Albans man who says Satan made him be cruel to his children has admitted to the shaking death of his 3-month-old son.
Thirty-two-year-old Joseph Dawson pleaded guilty in Kanawha County Circuit Court on Tuesday to child abuse causing death and will be sentenced in March. He admitted killing his son Dillon, but said he didn't mean to.
A medical examiner determined that the infant's February death was caused by shaken baby syndrome and that he had a head injury associated with a full blown assault.
In a letter to his wife in June, Dawson wrote that he had beaten Dillon and his 3-year-old stepson Samuel. He also wrote that it was Satan who was controlling his actions.
Dawson is also facing charges for hurting Samuel, who was removed from the home by child protective services shortly after Dillon's death.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
