A 22-year-old Red Wing man was sentenced to term of nearly five years for shaking his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter to death after first claiming the girl choked on a chicken nugget.

Adam M.P. Travis was sentenced in Goodhue County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Lylah Grace Koob in November 2018 at a home in the 100 block of E. 3rd Street in Red Wing.

With credit for more than 16 months jail since his arrest, Travis will serve roughly 2¼ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police were called on Nov. 28, 2018, about a child choking at the home, and officers arrived to find Travis outside, crying and screaming uncontrollably. With him were a young woman and a teenage boy who was in the home playing video games with Travis at the time.

Travis said he was watching the children while their 25-year-old mother, Kayla Berentsen, was at work.

Initially, he told an officer that Lylah "was eating chicken nuggets and began to choke," the charges read. He said he attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation to free the food.

An initial examination at a Rochester hospital revealed that Lylah had suffered "significant brain injury," the charges read. The medical examiner reported finding injuries consistent with her being shaken, pushed or struck.

The medical examiner said "the piece of chicken nugget may have been placed inside the mouth of [the girl] after she was injured to give the appearance that she was choking," the charges continued.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482