Ellsworth airman on trial for infant son’s death The Associated Press (Getty Images) RAPID CITY, S.D. A military jury will decide whether a senior airman at Ellsworth Air Force Base is responsible for the death of his 6-month-old son. Prosecutors said James Cunningham inflicted the injuries by shaking and punching Zachariah in March of last year. Capt. Anna Sturges, during opening statements Thursday, said Cunningham, when he spoke to detectives, told four different versions of what happened to his son.
The Associated Press
March 8, 2020 Sturges says a doctor will testify that the autopsy shows Zachariah didn’t just have a brain bleed from blunt-force trauma but also suffered from eye and spinal injuries after being shaken.
By ARIELLE ZIONTS | The Rapid City Journal | Published: February 12, 2021 RAPID CITY, S.D. (Tribune News Service) Everyone who knows Senior Airman James Cunningham said he was a loving father. So how did his six-month-old son end up dying from a brain bleed after being in his care? Eight fellow airmen will decide if Cunningham shook and punched Zachariah after becoming angry or if he made the mistake of his lifetime by placing his son on the kitchen counter, resulting in an accidental fall. Cunningham told four different versions of his story to detectives until he finally confessed to punching Zachariah in the head, prosecutor Capt. Anna Sturges said Thursday during opening statements at the airman s murder trial at Ellsworth Air Force Base.