Aug 31, 2005 By Steve Ferris 2 min read

The trial for a Grindstone man accused of fatally shaking his infant daughter last year is scheduled to begin this morning in Fayette County Court after a jury was selected Tuesday. Ryan Wayne Workman, 25, is charged with criminal homicide for the Aug. 3, 2004, death of his 3-month old daughter, Alexis Workman.

After a jury of eight men and six women, including two alternates, was selected in about an hour just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, Judge Steve P. Leskinen said the trial will start today at 9:30 a.m.

State police arrested Workman two days after his daughter died in Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

After the baby was taken to the hospital Aug. 1, Workman told police she fell off a couch and that some of her injuries might have occurred when he slammed on the brakes of his car, causing her improperly secured car seat to jolt her, police testified at a previous hearing.

Police said Workman then reported that the girl was fussing in her car seat and he shook her in the seat.

He also told police he shook her a second time when she was in a baby swing, police said.

On Tuesday, after the jury was excused for the day, First Trial Assistant District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. made a motion to amend the cause of death in the case.

The motion was to add “shaken baby syndrome” to the cause of death, which was listed as blunt force trauma to the head, face and extremities with a skull fracture.

Workman’s attorney, Susan E. Ritz Harper, agreed to the amendment.

During the jury selection process, two of the 40 potential jurors were dismissed after they said they had child deaths in their families.

The trial is expected to last at least through Friday.