Apr 30, 2002 By Jennifer Harr 2 min read

The pretrial conference for a Menallen Township man accused of shaking his 4-month-old daughter in January was postponed on Monday. Robert Lee Bonzo, 21, of 306 Searights Village appeared in Fayette County Court, wearing his orange prison-issue uniform. His attorney, Patrick McDaniel, requested that Bonzo have another month to consider the four-to-eight year prison term offered by District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon.

Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi continued the case until May 23.

Bonzo is charged with aggravated and simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.

State police criminal investigator Sandra Soliday charged Bonzo after he reportedly confessed to shaking his daughter, Kaitlin Leigh Bonzo in the latter part of January.

After Karen K. Isler, showed up with Kaitlin Bonzo at Uniontown Hospital, the infant was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. Isler was watching the infant on Jan. 31, and became concerned after the girl’s medical condition worsened throughout the day. The baby’s mother, Stacey Carr, had dropped her off at Isler’s home..

According to testimony at Bonzo’s preliminary hearing, Kaitlin Bonzo was diagnosed with Shaken Baby Syndrome. That condition occurs when a child is aggressively shaken and the brain hits off the skull.

While his daughter was in the hospital, Soliday interviewed Bonzo. He reportedly told her he shook the infant three time in succession in an attempt to quiet her crying.

He allegedly did so a week before his reported Feb. 6 confession.

At Bonzo’s preliminary hearing, Carr testified she never saw him hurt their daughter.

Bonzo remains in Fayette County Prison in lieu of $50,000, 10 percent bond.