Police in Polk County, Florida on March 5 arrested a man in connection to the beating death of his 4-month-old daughter last month, the Lakeland Ledger reported.
Jacob Kubai, 22, of Bartow faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter.
In a press briefing on March 7, Bartow Police Chief Andy Ray said police received a call at 8:30 p.m. on February 22 from the Bartow Regional Hospital after a girl with suspicious injuries, 4-month-old Willow Kubai, was brought to the ER in cardiac arrest.
After the child was stabilized, she was airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa where doctors determined that she was suffering from a skull fracture, bleeding in the brain, and multiple fractured ribs.
Two days later, Willow died.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters that the 4-month-old girl was “literally beaten to death.”
Chief Ray said following Willow’s death, he contacted the Polk County Sheriff to ask for assistance in a homicide investigation. Deputies from the sheriff’s office interviewed Jacob Kubai and his wife Rebekah, however, neither would explain how the child received the injuries.
Jacob Kubai claimed that he dropped his wife off at the Texas Cattle Company in Lakeland where she worked just before 5:00 p.m. on February 22. He then drove his daughter home where he played video games until it was time to make dinner.
Kubai said he took his daughter to Walmart at about 6:40 p.m. However, surveillance footage from the Walmart store showed Kubai at a self-checkout lane at 6:54 p.m. without Willow.
He told deputies that he fed Willow at about 7:50 p.m. and about 20 minutes later, he noticed that Willow was not breathing so he began CPR.
Sheriff Judd told reporters that detectives suspected that Kubai beat his daughter before he left for Walmart.
The February 27 autopsy determined that the 4-month-old sustained at least ten blunt force injuries to her forehead, and her spine was swollen and hemorrhaged. The medical examiner also found evidence of ten healing rib fractures consistent with squeezing.
The medical examiner determined the manner of death was a homicide and concluded that the skull fracture was caused “by the caregiver at the time.”
