Dad charged with murder of his baby boy following ‘funny’ leafblower act
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A dad has been charged with the murder of his baby boy years after an alleged incident involving a leafblower on the child.
James Westervelt, 38, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge two years after the death of the baby, according to records filed to Marion County court on 30 July.
The Florida dad had allegedly previously blown air from the gardening power tool towards the baby 'as a joke', according to police, and footage of the incident was taken.
Advert
He is alleged to have told investigators on the case that he used the tool on the then two-month-old because he thought it was 'funny'.
The child died aged six months in August 2024 after a second incident. The youngster had been taken to hospital where he was put on life support, as per Marion County court records filed by prosecutors.
Reports say that doctors attributed the death to blunt head trauma caused by the bouncing of the child.
Marion County Sheriff's Office said they had been called out to reports of an unresponsive infant, which led to the arrest of Westervelt. The dad has now been detained on murder charges and is due back in court in September.
As per WESH 2 News, Zack Moore, from the Marion County Sheriff's Office, confirmed the case update and explained how they managed to gather enough evidence to charge him with the offence.
"Eventually, once Westervelt was arrested in April of this year for child abuse on the same victim, they were able to interview him again while in jail, and it had been a couple years since he had provided his initial statement, and this time he provided enough contradicting evidence," he explained.
"Basically, we worked with the state attorney’s office and determined there was enough to arrest him for murder."
WKRC reported that Westervelt was initially charged with second-degree murder without premeditation, but that charge was then refiled as a first-degree murder charge with premeditation last Thursday (30 July)
James Holt