Authorities in Wisconsin say a 5-year-old boy is dead and his father is facing criminal charges following an incident at a Milwaukee County home last week.
According to Fox News, 29-year-old Travis Stackhouse is accused of brutally beating his son on Friday. A police report filed in connection with the case alleges that the suspect became violent because he was “upset that others were eating” a cake he received for Father’s Day.
Investigators believe Stackhouse punched the victim in the face and stomach, causing fatal injuries he initially blamed on the boy taking a tumble down a flight of stairs.
Emergency personnel arrived at their home at about 2 a.m. on Saturday and subsequent examinations ruled out a fall. Instead, an autopsy ruled the child died from blunt force to his abdomen — the result of homicide, as reported by WPLG.
Stackhouse himself reportedly told police that his girlfriend told him on multiple occasions “not to hit the children so hard.”
Furthermore, police say the boy’s older brother told officers that he did not fall down the stairs.
In addition to the fatal injuries, officials noted that the boy had two black eyes and cuts on his face and torso.
The suspect was arrested and booked into the Milwaukee County Jail with bond set at $25,000. He is expected to be charged with reckless homicide in the first degree and could face 60 years behind bars if convicted.
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[Featured image: Travis Stackhouse, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office]
