Lakeland mother arrested over baby's fatal head injuries linked to her ring

A 42-year-old Florida woman was arrested after an autopsy found her infant son died from violent blows, not co-sleeping. Her ring matched wounds on the baby's skull.

Florida mother charged with aggravated child abuse after ring tied to infant's fatal injuries

A 42-year-old Lakeland woman, Jessica Vlasac, was booked into Polk County Jail on Thursday, 10 September, on a charge of aggravated child abuse following the death of her three-month-old son, fox13news.com reports.

Emergency responders were called to a Lakeland home late on Sunday, 6 September, after a report of an unresponsive baby boy. Medics transported the infant to Orlando Health Medical in Lakeland, where doctors pronounced him dead shortly after arrival. Visible bruising and abrasions were noted on the child's head.

Vlasac initially told investigators she had accidentally fallen asleep beside the baby and woke to find him face down, cold and unresponsive. She reportedly made statements including, "I think I killed our son," attributing what happened to the co-sleeping incident.

An autopsy conducted by Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson contradicted that account. Nelson identified three separate impact injuries to the infant's forehead and skull, including a 1.7 cm by 1 cm L-shaped mark consistent with a square object.

When detectives interviewed Vlasac a second time following the autopsy, they observed her wearing a large, diamond-like stone ring with a square-shaped setting on her ring finger — a shape consistent with the wound pattern described by Dr. Nelson. A search warrant was subsequently executed for Vlasac's electronic devices and the ring. During the search, Vlasac spontaneously asked investigators whether the ring was what had killed the baby, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Text messages recovered from the night of the incident showed Vlasac had purchased alcoholic shots earlier that day, sent messages stating she had killed the infant, and subsequently asked the child's father to delete their message history, deputies said.

Authorities have not confirmed whether additional charges will follow as the investigation continues. The infant's name has not been publicly released, and officials have not disclosed the full extent of the deleted digital communications.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office stated the criminal investigation remains ongoing.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)