A Florida man is facing felony charges after police say he brutally beat his 4-month-old daughter, then said the infant wasn’t “real.”
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 22-year-old Jacob Kubai is accused of causing 10 fractured ribs, spine hemorrhaging, brain bleeding, and multiple bruises on his daughter, Willow, nicknamed “Strawberry,” while her mother was working.
Sheriff Judd Gracy with PSCO said Kubai took the victim to the Bartow Regional Medical Center on February 22, where it was discovered she had “no brain activity and suspicious physical injuries.” She was later taken to the Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, where physicians determined she had been physically abused.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Judd described the details Kubai provided, in the events leading up to the incident.
Kubai said he went to Walmart with his daughter on the night in question from 6:40 to 7:50 p.m., after dropping his wife off at work, at the Texas Cattle Company in Lakeland.
He told police that the baby seemed to be OK at the time, but back at home, at around 8:10 p.m., he checked on her after a feeding and discovered she wasn’t breathing. Kubai said he then administered CPR and subsequently took the infant to the hospital.
After reviewing Walmart’s security footage, detectives saw Kubai at the self-checkout in the store without the baby. Judd said detectives believe that the defendant had already harmed Willow before leaving for the store.
“The baby was literally beaten to death,” Judd said.
“He started saying ‘none of this is real. My wife’s not real. My baby’s not real. This is a fantasy. This just didn’t happen.’ He started immediately playing games with us. He showed zero remorse. He shed not one tear and yet he has literally beaten and squeezed his baby to death at 4 months old.”
“Occasionally you will see people, based upon the extent of this injury. You wonder why God allows them to breathe air. Here’s one that I wonder why God allows him to breathe air.”
Kubai is facing aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse charges. He remains behind bars at the Polk County Jail without bail.
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[Feature Photo: Jacob Kubai/Polk County Sheriff’s Office]
