42-year-old Jessica Vlasac of Lakeland was arrested by Polk County Sheriff’s deputies on September 10, 2026, and charged with aggravated child abuse following the death of her 3-month-old son.
Summary of the Investigation
- Initial Report: Emergency responders were called to a Lakeland home on Sunday night, September 6, 2026, for an unresponsive infant. The baby was rushed to Orlando Health Medical Center in Lakeland, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival with visible head bruising and abrasions.
- Initial Claim: Vlasac originally told detectives that she had accidentally fallen asleep in bed with the baby and woke up to find him cold, unresponsive, and face down. During interviews, she made statements to deputies including, “I think I killed our son,” claiming she believed it happened while co-sleeping.
- Autopsy Findings: Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson determined the infant died from severe head trauma and subdural hemorrhaging, disproving the co-sleeping claim. The autopsy revealed three distinct impact injuries to the forehead and skull, including an L-shaped wound matching a square-shaped object.
- Physical Evidence: During a follow-up interview, detectives noticed Vlasac wearing a large, square-shaped diamond-like ring on her finger. When deputies executed a search warrant for her devices and the ring, Vlasac spontaneously asked if the ring was what killed the baby. The medical examiner later confirmed the child’s blunt-force injuries were consistent with being struck by the ring.
- Digital Messages: Text messages retrieved from the night of the incident showed Vlasac had purchased alcohol earlier in the day and sent messages stating she killed the infant. She also texted the child’s father asking him to delete the chat history and hide evidence.
Vlasac was booked into the Polk County Jail. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office noted that the criminal investigation remains active and ongoing.
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