Prosecutors say a Milwaukee father is accused of fatally punching his 5-year-old son because the young boy ate some of the cheesecake he had gotten for Father’s Day.
Via People:
Travis Stackhouse initially claimed his son Sir Stackhouse had fallen down the stairs last weekend, which caused him multiple injuries, including bruising to both eyes, a cut on his lip, a laceration on his sternum and three cuts on his back, Fox 6 Now reports.
After a thorough investigation by the police, who believed his injuries were not consistent with Travis’ story, and an autopsy, the father allegedly admitted to punching his son in the face and stomach for eating his celebratory cake.
Travis has since been charged with reckless homicide for allegedly fatally assaulting Sir. The little boy’s family, meanwhile, is having a difficult time coming to terms with the heartbreaking incident.
“This baby was little, tiny, close to 20 pounds or so, and you doing all that? It’s ridiculous,” Macshaunya Wright, Sir’s aunt, told WALB News 10. “I can’t even process a kid going through that.”
The tragedy occurred on June 21, while Travis was at the home he shares with his girlfriend and their four other children, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the local outlet.
In the documents, Travis reportedly stated that his girlfriend returned from work around noon, but left again at approximately 3 p.m. After she left, Travis said Sir and another one of his children were upstairs playing Nerf basketball.
All of a sudden, Travis alleged that Sir came “somersaulting down the stairwell,” but claimed he did not suffer any injuries from the accident — that is until a little while later when Sir complained he wasn’t feeling well and vomited, according to the documents.
Though Travis admitted to being angry in the complaint, he denied assaulting any of his kids at the time. He also alleged that he went out with friends that evening.
When questioned, Sir’s older brother refuted Travis’ story about the little boy falling down the stairs and claimed that the father of five allegedly hit Sir in the stomach and back.
Travis was later re-interviewed about the incident, where he eventually admitted to punching his son in the stomach and face for eating his Father’s Day cake, but said Sir fell down the stairs later in the day.
Sir’s mother, and Travis’ girlfriend, had been out of the house during the incident. She was the one who eventually called 911 at 3 a.m. the following morning, after noticing something was wrong.
Officials pronounced Sir dead at the scene. An autopsy later showed that Sir suffered blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
Travis is being held on a $25,000 bond at the Milwaukee County Jail and faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted.
