A Florida man has received a life sentence for severing the spine of a 2-year-old daughter in his custody, resulting in her loss one week after her mother ended their relationship.
Following almost two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted 27-year-old Travis Ray Thompson of first-degree murder for the homicide of 2-year-old Jacklyn Schwingel, as stated by the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
On May 2, 2022, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to allegations of child abuse after the admission of a 2-year-old to the emergency department in severe condition. Despite the doctors’ efforts to implement life-saving measures, Jacklyn could not be revived and was declared dead, as stated by the attorney’s office.
That morning, Jacklyn’s mother entrusted her daughter to Thompson’s care before departing for work. Twenty-five minutes after leaving for work, she received a phone from Thompson, who reported that there was an issue with the youngster, according to the sheriff’s office.
The mother informed the sheriff’s office that upon her arrival, “Jacklyn was unresponsive, exhibiting a weak pulse and an enlarged abdomen.” The mother and Thompson entered a car and transported Jacklyn to a neighboring hospital when she stopped breathing.
The mother instructed Thompson to contact 911, resulting in an ambulance arriving at a neighboring establishment to convey the 2-year-old for medical care, according to the attorney’s office statement.
The medical staff at the hospital, suspecting internal bleeding in the youngster, informed the sheriff’s office and the Department of Children and Families.
During an interview with investigators, Thompson asserts that he was in another room when he heard a loud commotion and saw Jacklyn unconscious and not breathing. The attorney’s office said, “Although Thompson was the sole individual present with the victim, he asserted that he was unaware of how the victim sustained the injury.”
On September 1, 2022, the Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Jacklyn’s cause of death was catastrophic injuries to her body, which included a severance of her spine and internal abdominal hemorrhaging.
The Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Thompson exerted considerable progressive force on Jacklyn’s upper and lower body, bending her backward beyond her “natural range of motion” until her spine fractured, as stated in their report.
“This perpetrator took the life of an innocent child, and today, the judicial system ensured he will never be free again,” said Bill Gladson, State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. “Incarceration is insufficient punishment for such malevolence.”