Man sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally punching own son who ate his Father’s Day cake

INQUIRER.net Stock Photo

A 29-year-old father from Wisconsin in the United States who fatally punched his own 5-year-old son after the boy ate a slice of his Father’s Day cheesecake back in June 2019 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Travis Stackhouse got the sentence last Tuesday, June 29, around two years after the child’s death, as per Fox-owned WITI yesterday, June 30.

Stackhouse pleaded guilty last May to three felony charges: second-degree reckless homicide, neglecting a child and child abuse (intentionally cause harm).

The child’s caretakers first told police that the child died after falling down the stairs when they went to Stackhouse’s home in June 2019.

Police did not believe them, however, as the injuries were inconsistent with the story, according to the report. Stackhouse later admitted that he hit his boy in the face and punched him in the stomach for eating his cheesecake.

Stackhouse is also a father to four other children, the court heard during the sentencing, with prosecutors pointing out that they also feared for their well-being.

While they requested that Stackhouse be sentenced to 21 years in prison, the judge reduced it to 20 years considering that Stackhouse confessed and stopped the trial to plead guilty, the report said.

Aside from 20 years in prison, Stackhouse was also sentenced to an additional eight years of extended supervision. Ian Biong  /ra

RELATED STORIES:

Man who tried breaching cockpit and then jumped from plane faces 20 years in prison

Fugitive nabbed after using fake name that belongs to another fugitive