Parents sentenced for daughter's shooting death

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, July 31, 2010

(07-30) 14:56 PDT VACAVILLE -- The parents of a 2-year-old Vacaville girl who was accidentally shot to death by her 8-year-old brother were sentenced Friday to less than a year in jail and probation.

Michael Shanahan, 28, and Daniela Shanahan, 26, were given credit for 185 days served, so they each must spend 90 additional days in jail to complete their 275-day sentences in connection with the Sept. 23 death of Ayana Shanahan.

At a hearing in Fairfield, Judge Wendy Getty also ordered the couple to attend a yearlong parenting class and perform 200 hours of community service apiece. The judge placed Michael Shanahan on probation for four years; his wife will be on probation for three years.

Ayana was shot once in the head at the family's home on the 1000 block of Syracuse Circle as her brother was playing with the handgun.

The boy did not think the gun was real, police said. The parents were home at the time.

Michael Shanahan pleaded no contest in March in Solano County Superior Court to one count of unsafe storage of a firearm. Daniela Shanahan pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment.

Michael Shanahan was an active Army reservist at the time of the shooting, and the gun that killed Ayana was one of numerous weapons in the home, authorities said.

Daniela Shanahan's attorney, Monte Hansen, said the judge had "exercised excellent wisdom" in pronouncing sentence.

"She has already been sentenced to life with the tragic loss of her daughter," Hansen said of his client. "Her daughter was the love of her life."

Prosecutors had sought two-year prison terms for the couple.

From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/31/BAFS1EMJCE.DTL