What initially appeared to be a tragic accident involving a sleeping mother and her 3-month-old baby has taken a very different turn after investigators examined the child’s injuries and took a closer look at a ring worn by the woman caring for him.
Jessica Vlasac, 42, of Lakeland, Florida, was arrested on September 10 and charged with aggravated child abuse resulting in the death of a child, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation began four days earlier, shortly before midnight on September 6, when emergency responders were called to Vlasac’s home after a report of an unresponsive infant.
According to the arrest affidavit, the baby was found with an abrasion and bruising on his head. He was rushed to a Lakeland hospital, but doctors were unable to save him, and he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
At first, Vlasac told investigators that she believed the baby’s death had happened while they were sleeping.
She reportedly told deputies that she had accidentally fallen asleep with the infant in bed and could not remember what happened afterward. When she woke up, she said, the baby was lying face down and was no longer moving.
She also made statements suggesting that she believed she might have caused the baby’s death while asleep.
But investigators did not stop with that explanation.
As the medical examination continued, questions began to emerge about whether the baby’s injuries could actually have been caused by an accidental co-sleeping incident.
An autopsy conducted by Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson found subdural hemorrhaging around the baby’s skull. The medical examiner also identified three separate impact injuries on the top of the infant’s forehead.
One of those injuries was particularly important to the investigation.
It measured approximately 1.7 centimeters by 1 centimeter and had an L-shaped appearance. According to authorities, Dr. Nelson said the injury appeared consistent with contact from a square-shaped object.
That detail prompted detectives to look more closely at the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death.
During another interview with Vlasac, investigators noticed that she was wearing a large ring featuring a diamond-like stone with a shape that appeared broadly consistent with the description of the injury.
The ring became a potential piece of evidence.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Vlasac’s electronic devices as well as the ring itself. During that process, authorities said Vlasac asked whether the ring could have been responsible for the baby’s injuries.
The medical examiner later examined the ring, and investigators said he determined that the injuries were consistent with the infant being struck by it.
Authorities also said the autopsy found no evidence that co-sleeping itself caused the baby’s death.
That finding significantly changed the direction of the investigation.
What had initially been described as a possible sleep-related accident was now being investigated as a potential child-abuse case.
Detectives also spoke with other people who were in the household that night. According to investigators, those individuals said they did not know anything was wrong until they heard Vlasac screaming.
Investigators then turned their attention to communications between Vlasac and the baby’s father.
According to the sheriff’s office, messages exchanged on the night of the incident indicated that Vlasac had purchased alcoholic shots earlier that day.
Later that night, investigators allege that Vlasac sent messages to the baby’s father saying that she had killed the child and that he was dead. Some of those messages were later deleted, authorities said.
The baby’s father also reportedly told detectives that when Vlasac called him several days later, she appeared unusually calm while discussing the baby’s death. He said she also asked him not to show their messages to investigators.
Those communications have now become another part of the evidence investigators are examining.
Vlasac is also facing separate allegations stemming from her interaction with law enforcement. Online jail records show additional charges for resisting an officer with violence and battery on an officer, firefighter or EMT. She remains held without bond at the Polk County Jail.
It is not clear whether she has retained an attorney who can speak publicly on her behalf. The investigation remains ongoing.
For investigators, the case now centers on a series of questions that began with a baby’s unexplained injuries.
What happened inside the home that night?
How were the infant’s head injuries sustained?
And why did the initial explanation of an accidental sleeping incident not match what investigators say the medical examination revealed?
The ring has become one of the most notable pieces of evidence in the case, but prosecutors will ultimately have to establish how it relates to the infant’s death and what happened that night.
For now, Vlasac has been charged, but the allegations against her have not been proven in court.
The investigation is still developing, and additional evidence, court records or forensic findings could provide a clearer picture of what happened before the baby’s death.
What began as an emergency call involving a 3-month-old child has now become a criminal investigation — one in which a seemingly ordinary piece of jewelry may help investigators answer some of the most important questions surrounding the case.