Man gets two more years in toddler death

By Amanda Stewart

Published: May 1, 2008

A Woodbridge man was sentenced in Prince William Circuit Court Thursday to serve two additional years in prison for involuntary manslaughter for the August 2006 death of a 3-year-old girl.

Fateh Shafeek, 31, entered an Alford plea to involuntary manslaughter in February for the beating death of his girl-friend's 3-year-old daughter, Nevaeh Wanzer.

In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.

Shafeek was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with eight of those years suspended.

In an earlier trial, a jury convicted Shafeek of felony child abuse for Nevaeh's death.

He was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for that charge.

The two sentences will run consecutively, so Shafeek will now serve 12 years in prison, prosecutors said.

During Shafeek's September trial, prosecutors said that he inflicted life-threatening injuries to Nevaeh when punishing her for cutting her younger half-sister's hair.

Shafeek put the 3-year-old in a walk-in closet and told her to stand in the corner until she could think of a reason why she cut her sister's hair, prosecutors said.

When Shafeek went back to the closet 10 to 15 minutes later he found the child leaning against a box in the closet, instead of standing in the corner, according to court testimony.

Prosecutors said that's when Shafeek got angry and began hitting the girl.

In his September trial, Shafeek testified that it was the girl's mother, not he, who hit Nevaeh that day.

According to an autopsy report filed in Prince William Circuit, Nevaeh died of blunt impact and shaking injuries to the head, compression injuries to the neck and blunt impact to the torso.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014 or .