TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man was sentenced Thursday morning to 15 years in prison for leaving his infant daughter alone in her car seat on the side of the road while he was intoxicated in January.
Paul Hanna, 38, pleaded guilty to child abandonment and endangerment in August in the 7th District Court. On Thursday, Judge Kerry Russell handed down the 15-year sentence after hearing arguments from both the state and defense.
Hanna was arrested on Jan. 11 on charges of driving while intoxicated for a second time and child endangerment. Police said a cyclist found his baby sitting in a car seat on the roadside of Rhones Quarter Road late on the night of Jan. 10.
During the hearing, Hanna's attorney said Hanna never intentionally left his daughter on the side of the road. He said that Hanna loves all of his children. The defense asked for probation and that Hanna be required to have addiction treatment, saying he is an alcoholic.
In response to Russell asking how the child got to the side of the road, Hanna's lawyer said, "I have clue at all."
The prosecutor called Hanna leaving his 1-year-old baby on the side of the road on her first birthday the worst case of abandonment that he's ever seen. The lawyer said that Hanna should not get probation.
Before giving the sentence, Russell agreed with the prosecution that what Hanna did was the one of the worst cases of child abandonment, and the incident could have led to Hanna getting charged with a first-degree felony if the child was hurt or killed.
According to an arrest affidavit, after finding the baby, the cyclist went into a nearby home and called 9-1-1 from there. After getting reviewed by EMS, officials determined the child just had a minor abrasion on her hand. She was later picked up by family members.
Police officers found Hanna at the CEFCO parking lot on Troup Highway. They determined Hanna was the child's father and the last person seen with the child. The affidavit said Hanna initially told police that his 1-year-old daughter was at his home with a full-time nurse who was attending to his 4-year-old son.
The night nurse told police that Hanna lives with the two children and the nurse hadn't seen Hanna or the baby girl in three hours. While interviewing Hanna, police officers said he gave numerous conflicting accounts and found him "uncredible and intoxicated," the affidavit read.