A Florida man was arrested in the 2021 choking death of his infant daughter after investigators concluded he put a baby wipe in her mouth, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Joseph Napier, 30, was arrested Friday on a manslaughter charge, the sheriff’s office said.
Napier is accused of killing the infant “by shoving the baby wipe down her throat,” sheriff’s Det. Robert Sunkel said at a news conference.
I’m wondering how they concluded that. I’m not saying it isn’t possible or that the guy is innocent, but if you watch enough true crime shows, you know that sometimes police get pretty overzealous (especially in infant deaths).
As a parent, I also know kids will do all kinds of stupid things and if the father left his 1 1/2 year old and infant together like that, who knows. Was it stupid to leave them alone for 10 minutes? Definitely. I bet there won’t be a day in that guy’s life that he doesn’t regret that action and perhaps there should be manslaughter charges or something like that (negligent homicide?).
The accusation sounds kind of far fetched though, and I’m not sure how they’ll make anything beyond a circumstantial case there.
They must believe they have enough evidence to charge. Although, I’m in the UK and am perhaps forgetting how rare it is to actually get a trial in the US… But, if the guy does not take a plea deal, it will come out in court.
If they are right, he was willing to have the 18 month old live the rest of their life believing they killed their sibling. I hope it’s provable beyond reasonable doubt. Awful case.
Probably determined how the wipe was put down the throat that the 18month old wasn’t capable of doing it. Also says they were left alone for 30 mins not 10, and he took his time calling 911. Not sure how they know that though. Probably a lot of stuff they can’t say until it goes to court. If they could prove he intended to kill the kid he would’ve gotten a more serious charge, so yeah he will probably just end up with some sort of negligence charge causing the child’s death.
Circumstantial evidence is good enough for a conviction.
The circumstantial evidence here is that:
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Some kind of expert, maybe an ENT or physiatrist of the head and neck will testify as to the parastalitic abilities of an infant. That testimony, it sounds like, is going to prove a baby can’t swallow a wipe.
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Phone and 911 evidence will show he waited to call 9/11.
That’s pretty damning, to a jury.
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Unless he confesses to it they’re not getting a conviction. They’ve caught him “changing his story.” Don’t talk to the police folks.
Definitely don’t talk to the police, but I fully expect a conviction.
