A Wisconsin man, Travis Stackhouse has been imprisoned for 20 years after murdering his 5-year-old son in June 2019 over a slice of Father’s Day cake.
According to reports, when the 5-year-old boy died in June 2019, the child’s caretakers initially told police he had fallen down a flight of stairs.
However, the paramedics who were called to the scene pronounced the child dead on the scene and noted that they didn’t believe the injuries were consistent with a fall. The boy’s 6-year-old brother also told the police he did not fall down the stairs. Since the police did not buy into the report based on the injuries found on the boy, they decided to press further.
Autopsy results revealed that the child suffered blunt force trauma to the abdomen, and his death was ruled a homicide. He reportedly suffered a ruptured stomach, bruised kidneys, and a torn adrenal gland which resulted in his death.
Eventually, the boy’s father told investigators what really happened. According to a report, he had punched the child in the stomach and hit him in the face, because the child had eaten a slice of his Father’s Day cheesecake.
The convicted killer, Travis Stackhouse has now been sentenced to 20 years in prison, plus an additional eight years of extended supervision, after pleading guilty to three felony charges in relation to his son’s death.
According to reports, the charges included second-degree reckless homicide, neglecting a child, and child abuse/intentionally causing harm.
That notwithstanding, during the sentence hearing, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge, David Borowski who was clearly taken aback by the unfortunate situation said:
“The average person that hears about this case can’t understand how you would beat or punch any living human being as badly as you did in this case let alone your own child. How you can live with yourself, even for a day, I don’t understand”.
Travis Stackhouse faced up to 37 years in prison. But in court Judge Borowski ordered Stackhouse to 20 years of initial confinement and eight years of extended supervision. As part of his sentencing, the father was also ordered to pay 500,000 dollars restitution.
Judge Borowski also noted that the state could have sought a more severe charge against Travis Stackhouse, which could have led to a harsher sentence. However, they took into account the fact that Travis Stackhouse admitted to the crime, which helped stop the trial to enter a guilty plea.
It is worth noting that Travis Stackhouse has four more children. During the court case, prosecutors expressed concern for the safety of Stackhouse’s four other children. son son son
Meanwhile, several people who are also stunned and sickened by what Travis did averred that the sentence is not enough. According to them, he shouldn’t be allowed to live as he should have just received a death penalty instantly.
More so, some who described Travis as a “lowlife” also indicated that he definitely has some anger and mental issues that needs to be addressed since “no one in their right senses will be able to live with such guilt”.
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