Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jessica Neathea Wilson, 29, is now facing a second-degree homicide charge after her 2-year-old child died from injuries authorities say were inflicted during a June 18 incident in which Wilson allegedly beat the child until she suffered a seizure and became unresponsive.
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies and Alachua County Fire Rescue paramedics were called to a home in the Tower Oaks neighborhood at about 9:17 p.m. on June 18 after a report that a child was unresponsive.
According to deputies, the first deputy on scene found the child unconscious and not breathing. The deputy picked her up and carried her to an ambulance, where paramedics immediately began advanced lifesaving efforts. The child was taken to the UF Health Shands Pediatric Emergency Room with life-threatening injuries.
Investigators said Wilson, the child’s mother, made unsolicited statements indicating that she had “beat her.” Deputies also reported seeing multiple bruises on the child’s body.
Detectives later learned that Wilson had been staying with a friend for several weeks. According to the friend, Wilson woke her and handed her the unresponsive child, saying the child was having a seizure. The friend said she realized the child was not breathing and told Wilson to call 911, but Wilson allegedly refused. The friend reported that she began CPR while continuing to urge Wilson to call for help. When Wilson still did not call, allegedly because the child had bruises and she feared getting in trouble, the friend called 911 herself. The friend also told investigators she had noticed the child had a bloody lip a few days earlier, but Wilson said the child had fallen, and the friend said she had no reason at the time to question that explanation.
A detective reported that after arriving at the hospital, the child was placed in a medically induced coma and remained in critical condition. Doctors found several internal injuries, including skull fractures and bruising to the head, chest, and back, as well as possible internal bleeding. Medical staff were uncertain whether she would survive, and investigators were later told her condition had worsened and she had been taken into surgery.
After being read her Miranda rights, Wilson allegedly told investigators the child had not been listening to her, so she punished her with a belt. Authorities said Wilson eventually admitted to severely beating the child with closed fists, her hands, and her feet, including striking the child in the head and body, pulling her back when she tried to get away, and stomping on her back while she was on the floor. Wilson reportedly said she “went too far” and knew she had done so before the child had a seizure, adding that the child had no history of seizures. Investigators said she also admitted to punching the child two days earlier, causing bruising and a bloody lip.
Two belts were reportedly found at the scene.
The charge of 2nd-degree homicide has been added to her previous charges of aggravated child abuse for the June 18 incident and child abuse without great bodily harm for the June 16 incident. Wilson has no local criminal record, and Judge Jonathan Ramsey ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
