Father Killed Infant Daughter So He Could Nap, Authorities Say
Christopher Scott Ryon has been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of his infant daughter, Riley. Ryon punched his daughter in the head when she wouldn't stop crying, according to reports.
The 27-year-old Ryon told authorities that he wanted to take a nap but was prevented from doing so by Riley's crying. He punched the 2-month-old in the head and left her alone in the bedroom before going to sleep.
When Riley's mother came home from work, she found Riley lying face down on the bedroom floor and woke Christopher up from his nap to have him check on the infant while she fixed lunch. He assured her that Riley was fine and the mother, Kristine, assumed she was.
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Sometime later, Kristine went to check on Riley and found her unconscious; she immediately called 911. Police performed CPR until paramedics arrived and took the baby to Winter Haven Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Autopsy would later reveal that Riley had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and had a skull fracture. Police reports state that Christopher initially confessed to dropping the child on the floor, but they were still skeptical.
He referred to Riley as "it" throughout the interview.
Eventually, he confessed to punching Riley in the head. He described her cries as "screams that go through me like bullets," police reports state. Christopher is being held on $500,000 bail.
Unfortunately Riley's case is not unique. Earlier this week, 21-year-old Steven Cantrell was charged with the death of his 7-week-old daughter Jada. Cantrell was home alone with his daughter when she died, and he is now behind bars.
Jada suffered multiple skull fractures and severe head trauma, the same as Riley. Now both families are suffering the losses of these little girls.
"It's a shock. It's like a nightmare, you can't turn it off," said Jada's aunt, Fallon Whitaker. "It's like I wake up in the middle of the night and it's a bad dream," she told MSNBC.
