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 SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Southern California jail inmate who abused a baby girl was charged with murder Tuesday over her death a decade later from "shaken baby syndrome." 
 
 Christopher Edward Byrd, 39, already had served time after pleading guilty to child abuse. But the Jan. 17 death of Savannah Quake left him open to new charges of murder and child assault causing death, City News Service reported. 
 
 He could face 25 years to life if convicted. 
 
 Prosecutors say Byrd violently shook 11-month-old Savannah in January 2005 at the home he shared with her mother in La Habra. The mother had left the child in his care for several hours. 
 
 The baby was hospitalized, placed on a ventilator and never regained consciousness, said Troy Pino, an Orange County senior deputy district attorney. She lingered until Jan. 17, when she died from her brain injuries, Pino said. 
 
 In 2006, Byrd was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing the child and possessing methamphetamine. 
 
 Byrd currently is serving a nearly nine-year sentence in Orange County after pleading guilty in 2013 to charges in connection with a car chop-shop operation. 
 
 The girl's mother, Nicole Morefield, received a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to child abuse and endangerment in 2006. ||||| A man who is serving eight years in prison for drugs and theft could face decades more behind bars if Orange County prosecutors can prove his girlfriend's daughter died because he violently shook her a decade ago, authorities said Wednesday. 
 
 On Jan. 12, 2005, Christopher Byrd was babysitting his girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter in La Habra when he shook her until she lost consciousness, then he ran to a neighbor’s home to call paramedics, who whisked the girl to a hospital. 
 
 Savannah Lee Quake suffered a traumatic brain injury that day and remained on a ventilator in a vegetative state for the next 10 years until she died last January. Authorities contend her death was a direct result of Byrd’s shaking and investigated the death for months before filing charges Tuesday. 
 
 Byrd is charged with murder and felony assault on a child causing great bodily injury or death. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 4. 
 
 Byrd was convicted in the incident and of drug possession in 2007 and sentenced to prison. After he was released, he was sent to prison again in 2013 for drug and identity theft crimes, officials said. 
 
 Though Quake was injured 10 years ago, there’s no statute of limitations on murder cases. 
 
 For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna. 
 
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 Man charged in the death of muralist shot while painting anti-violence art in Oakland ||||| SANTA ANA – A 39-year-old man already serving time for a car-theft scheme was charged Tuesday with murder in connection with an alleged attack a decade ago in La Habra on his then-girlfriend’s baby daughter, who was left in a vegetative state and died this year. 
 
 Christopher Edward Byrd was also charged with a felony count of child assault causing death, Senior Deputy District Attorney Troy Pino said. 
 
 Savannah Quake, who was attacked on Jan. 12, 2005, lingered in a vegetative state until Jan. 17 of this year when she finally died from brain injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome, Pino said. 
 
 Savannah was 8 months old when Byrd moved in with her mother – Nicole Morefield – in La Habra, Pino said. A few months later, Morefield left her then-11-month-old with Byrd for a few hours, according to the prosecutor. 
 
 During that time, the baby suffered traumatic brain injury consistent with vigorous shaking, Pino said. Savannah was taken to a hospital where she was placed on a ventilator and never regained consciousness, he said. 
 
 Byrd pleaded guilty to abusing the child and possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2006, Pino said. 
 
 Prosecutors, however, are able to file heightened charges when a victim dies even if the defendant has served time on lesser charges. 
 
 Byrd, who is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 4, faces 25 years to life in prison if he is convicted. 
 
 Byrd pleaded guilty April 25, 2013, to theft-related charges in connection with a chop-shop operation and was sentenced to eight years and eight months in Orange County Jail, Pino said. 
 
 Morefield pleaded guilty Aug. 28, 2006, to child abuse and endangerment and was sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records.
– A babysitter has been charged with murdering the child in his care after an incident in 2005. Here’s the weird part: the girl died this January. Authorities say Christopher Byrd violently shook the 11-month-old daughter of his girlfriend, whom he lived with in La Habra, Calif., until she fell unconscious while he was looking after the child on Jan. 12, 2005, report the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register. Police say he then ran to a neighbor's house to call paramedics. For the next 10 years of her life, Savannah Quake remained in a vegetative state, having suffered a traumatic brain injury. Authorities say her death on Jan. 17 of this year was directly related to Byrd's actions. In 2007, Byrd pleaded guilty to charges of child abuse and possessing methamphetamine related to the incident in 2006 and was sentenced to four years in prison, reports the New York Times, but Savannah's death allows for new charges, authorities say. Byrd—who's already serving nearly nine years in prison for drugs and theft—is scheduled to be arraigned on charges of murder and felony assault on a child on Dec. 4 and could face 25 years to life if convicted. (This case in Washington is strangely similar.)