Braddock man faces trial in death of son

that he had abused his son.

In 1996, at age 8 weeks, Cavelle was treated at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC for a brain injury that left him in “extremely critical condition,” according to a criminal complaint.

Middlebrooks admitted to detectives he shook Cavelle after the infant had stopped breathing. When a clinical social worker at the hospital tried to get an explanation from Middlebrooks about what happened to Cavelle, Middlebrooks said, “It was my fault, maybe I was too rough with the baby,” the complaint said.

Middlebrooks was sentenced to 3½ to 8 years in prison and 20 years of probation for the charges stemming from the abuse. He also was sentenced to 11 months and 15 days to 23 months in prison in a separate case.

His attorney, James Sheets, said Wednesday that Middlebrooks waived the preliminary hearing because the case will depend largely on expert testimony about Mr. Mena’s exact causeof death.

“Can the commonwealth prove beyond a reasonable doubt that what happened 20 years ago caused this death in 2015?” Mr. Sheets said. “That won’t be decided in a preliminary hearing.”

Mike Manko, spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, said it took authorities about two years to bring the homicide charge against Middlebrooks because the investigation was ongoing.

“It was a deliberative process to review records and re-interview people to make sure that the causation was verified before the charge was actually filed,” he said.

Mr. Sheets declined to say whether Middlebrooks was involved in his son’s life after he was released from prison on the abuse charges, citing the family’s requests for privacy.

“He’s upset,” Mr. Sheets said. “This was his son. He did serve a lengthy period of incarceration, and has been living as a law-abiding citizen for a decade now. To find yourself back in jail, with no bond, facing a homicide charge, would be unnerving for anyone.”