Georgia Supreme Court overturns ruling, says Gwinnett dad convicted in baby’s shaking death should get new trial

Written by: A. Smith

Published October 17, 2025 @ 9:51 AM ET

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. – The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Gwinnett County man convicted of shaking his infant son to death, granting him a chance to present new evidence in a decades-long fight to overturn his conviction.

Danyel Smith, 50, has been behind bars for more than 20 years following his 2003 conviction in the death of his two-month-old son, Chandler. Prosecutors argued Smith violently shook the baby, but his attorneys say evolving medical research shows Chandler died from complications related to premature birth, not abuse.

Smith’s legal team, including Mark Loudon-Brown of the Southern Center for Human Rights, presented eight medical experts who testified that Chandler’s injuries could have been caused by birth trauma and other biological factors. The lower court had rejected the testimony, ruling it was merely opinion evidence and therefore insufficient for a new trial.

The Supreme Court unanimously vacated that ruling and directed the trial court to allow Smith’s attorneys to present the evidence. “The trial court erred by denying Smith’s extraordinary motion for a new trial,” Justice Nels Peterson wrote in the ruling, noting the lower court failed to consider whether the evidence was newly discovered and presented with due diligence.

Smith has consistently maintained his innocence and declined a plea deal in 2023 that would have freed him immediately if he admitted guilt. “He wasn’t going to admit to something he didn’t do,” Loudon-Brown said.

Medical experts have increasingly questioned the reliability of shaken-baby syndrome diagnoses. Pediatric neurologist Dr. Joseph Scheller said there is no definitive proof that falls, car accidents, or shaking alone cause severe brain injuries in infants, and at least 21 convictions based on such diagnoses have been overturned nationally since 2019.

The Supreme Court’s decision does not exonerate Smith, but it gives his family hope.

No date has been set for the new hearing in Gwinnett County, and the district attorney’s office has declined to comment.