A 29-year-old father who attacked his 3-month-old son so forcefully that the boy is now nearly brain dead was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Although the boy is now blind and will never talk, walk, see, eat normally or even comprehend that he exists, Oregon law doesn't allow defendant Awes Sheikhuna to receive a prison term longer than what Multnomah County Circuit Judge Bronson James imposed.

The judge said that limitation in the law is "shocking." The law allowed Sheikhuna to receive a minimum of 7 1/2 years to a maximum of 10 years for the crimes he was convicted of -- first-degree assault and first- degree criminal mistreatment.

Of all the young boy's life-altering disabilities, one is especially striking, James said.

"He has no sense of feeling," James said. "And it struck me that this child that was so injured can never be comforted ... is forever walled off. ...The last contact that this child will ever know is a harmful one."

During an eight-day trial in September, jurors learned that Sheikhuna was alone with his two sons, ages 3 months and 2 years, in the boys' Southwest Portland apartment on June 15, 2015. Sheikhuna didn't live with the boys and was watching them for their mother while she was at work.

He called 911. Paramedics arrived to find the baby, Anwar, unconscious, limp, cold and on the verge of dying.

Prosecutors Amanda Nadell and Amity Girt contended that the infant's brain damage and spinal injury could be caused only by an assault by his father -- or a car accident or fall from a multi-story building, neither of which happened that day. Prosecutors said Sheikhuna viewed Anwar as a difficult baby and lashed out at his son when he'd had enough.

Defense attorneys Adam Dean and Brett Hall contended that Sheikhuna hadn't hurt the boy, rather his son's condition developed from natural causes, such as a blood clot.

The jury unanimously found Sheikhuna guilty.



On Thursday, Nadell said the boy has suffered "the worst injury imaginable short of death itself." The boy's brain almost entirely has dissolved, she said.

All that's left, prosecutors said, is Anwar's brain stem, which controls basic functions such as breathing and heart rate. Doctors expect the boy to need round-the-clock care and be in and out of the hospital for the rest of his life, however long that may be.

If the boy ultimately ends up dying from his injuries months or even years from now, prosecutors could seek more serious criminal charges against Sheikhuna. The crime of murder has no statute of limitations and calls for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years.

Sheikhuna's attorneys asked for the minimum prison sentence that Oregon law allows -- 7 1/2 years -- so he can get out as soon as possible and start making money to go toward his son's significant needs.

Sheikhuna's wife, Rahma Galow, asked the judge to be as lenient as possible because he's the only support that she and their sons have. She said she and her husband are refugees from Somali and they immigrated to the United States to leave so many difficulties behind.

"He's a good father to my two children," Galow said, through an interpreter. "I have two children who really need their dad. ..."Please, I'm begging you."

The judge told Galow that he's sorry for all that she's been through.

Although the judge sided with the prosecution and gave Sheikhuna the longest term he could, James said he wouldn't make any recommendations about whether the father can see his children once he's released from prison and on post-prison supervision. That decision will be up to supervision officers.

Sheikhuna's supervision is expected to last about 10 years. With time off for good behavior, he could end up serving 9 1/2 in prison.

-- Aimee Green

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