Father speaks out after 6-month-old son's tragic death
A grieving Wisconsin father has spoken out for the first time since the tragic death of his 6-month-old son, saying the 10-year-old girl accused of stomping on the toddler’s head is a 'criminal' who deserves 'to be in shackles.'
A grieving Wisconsin father has spoken out for the first time since the tragic death of his 6-month-old son, saying the 10-year-old girl accused of stomping on the toddler’s head is a “criminal” who deserves “to be in shackles."
The comments from Nate Liedl come after he appeared in adult court last week to watch a judge set a bond of $50,000 for the girl, who is facing a first-degree intentional homicide charge. Police say the girl confessed to picking up and then dropping Jaxon Liedl at a day care center in Tilden on Oct. 30, before stomping on the baby’s head in an attempt to make him stop crying. Jaxon died two days later from the injuries he suffered.
"As opposed to seeing it as a 10-year-old girl, I saw it as the person who killed my son,” Nate Liedl told KTRK. “And she, in my opinion, deserved to be in shackles or handcuffs. She's a criminal.”
WISCONSIN GIRL, 10, STOMPED ON 6-MONTH-OLD'S HEAD AT DAY CARE RUN BY FOSTER PARENTS, OFFICIALS SAY
Handcuffed and wearing a leather restraint around her waist, the girl sobbed during her appearance in Chippewa County Circuit Court. State law requires the case, at least initially, to be held in adult court, prosecutors said.
First responders who arrived at the licensed home day care say they found Jaxon unresponsive and bleeding from the head. The baby was rushed to one hospital, then airlifted to another.
“I had sent a couple messages out to family to let them know that Jaxon's not going to make it. I remember, I broke down out there pretty bad. Yeah, it really hit hard," Liedl told KTRK.
Chippewa County Sheriff James Kowalczyk said a doctor who tended to the infant called his office to inform investigators that it was his belief the baby's injuries were not an accident. Investigators interviewed four people at the home and the girl, who lives with foster parents at the house, "confessed to her involvement in the situation," Kowalczyk said.
According to the sheriff, the girl said she dropped the infant, hitting his head on a footstool and causing the baby to cry. The girl told investigators that she panicked and stomped on the child's head, Kowalczyk said.
The girl's biological parents appeared with her in court – and she is expected to return on Dec. 11. Authorities said she had been removed from their home in September and placed in foster care, but the reasons for her removal have not been disclosed.
Nate Liedl described Jaxon as a boy who had “happy smiles all the time” – and rarely fussed or cried.
In the time before Jaxon’s death, the father reportedly had been locked in a custody battle over the child.
“Missing out on those first three months was hard enough. And then, to be granted only eight hours after that, I feel like they essentially robbed me of time with Jaxon,” he said in an interview with KTRK. “Now I'm not going to be able to get any of it back. If it helps one father get more time with their child, then that's good."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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