Wichita father, 19, pleads no contest in newborn daughter’s abuse death
A Wichita father on Thursday pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the abuse death of his newborn daughter last year.
Zachariah Howard, 19, is scheduled for sentencing on July 21, according to court records and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
“A no contest plea means the defendant did not admit guilt but accepted the conviction and its consequences. Under Kansas law, second-degree murder carries a sentence determined by the court under Kansas sentencing guidelines,” DA spokeswoman Lyndsee Stover said.
Howard was arrested and charged after his 3-week-old daughter, Mulani Howard, died on Sept. 18, 2025. Howard claimed the baby was fine when he fed her and put her in her crib alone and that he found her unresponsive when he checked on her a few hours later. He later told authorities that he might have woken up during the night and hit Mulani’s head on the bed when he picked her up, a probable cause affidavit says.
An autopsy determined the newborn suffered blunt force head injuries and bleeding that “were consistent with a baby who was shaken,” the affidavit says.
