Florida mom blamed baby’s death on co-sleeping — then detectives noticed her jewelry

A Florida woman allegedly said her baby died when she fell asleep next to her son. However, police said the infant’s autopsy — along with a piece of the mother’s jewelry — tipped them off to something far more sinister.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement that deputies responded to a residence in Lakeland after receiving a report that a baby boy was unresponsive around 11:58 p.m. Sept. 6.

‘I think I killed our son.’

Police said the 3-month-old was rushed to Orlando Health Medical where he was pronounced deceased shortly after.

According to the affidavit, the infant had an abrasion and bruising on his head.

The sheriff’s office said:

An autopsy revealed that the baby had subdural hemorrhaging around the skull. Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson identified three separate impact injuries to the baby’s head. The impact injuries were located on the top of the forehead. Dr. Nelson also identified a 1.7 cm by 1 cm L-shaped injury to the baby’s forehead, which he stated appeared to be consistent with being caused by a square-like object.

Detectives interviewed the infant’s mother, 42-year-old Jessica Vlasac.

“Vlasac told deputies that she had accidentally fallen asleep with the baby in the bed and that she did not remember anything else, and that when she woke up, she found the baby lying face down on the bed, not moving and cold to the touch,” the police statement read.

According to the statement, “After the autopsy, detectives interviewed Vlasac again and observed her wearing a large, diamond-like stone ring on her ring finger that was consistent with the large, square-like shape mentioned in the autopsy.”

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Detectives executed a search warrant and obtained Vlasac’s devices and her ring.

Police said, “During the search, Vlasac spontaneously asked if the ring was what killed the victim.”

The statement read, “In a follow-up examination, Dr. Nelson examined the ring that had been confiscated from Vlasac and advised that the victim’s injuries were consistent with being struck by the ring, as a part of the impact injuries.”

The sheriff’s office stated that “there was no evidence of co-sleeping causing the death.”

The PCSO added that text messages retrieved from the night of the incident showed Vlasac bought alcoholic shots earlier that day, sent messages stating she killed the infant, and later asked the child’s father to delete the text history, WTVT-TV reported.

According to detectives, the baby’s father told them that Vlasac is someone who becomes “violent” when she consumes alcohol.

Police said the father told detectives that Vlasac sent him multiple messages saying that she had killed the infant, including one that read: “I think I killed our son.”

The statement said, “The father stated that Vlasac called him a few days later and seemed unusually normal when discussing the death.”

Police arrested Vlasac on Sept. 10 and booked her into the Polk County Jail, according to records from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Vlasac, of Lakeland, was charged with aggravated child abuse resulting in the death.

The first-degree felony charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years if convicted, according to WTSP-TV.

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Vlasac remains at the Polk County Jail without bond.

Law&Crime reported that Vlasac has a pretrial detention hearing Thursday and an arraignment hearing Oct. 13.

Records from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office show Vlasac also was arrested on Aug. 2 in a separate incident. She was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and resisting an officer without violence.

Jail records show Vlasac was released Aug. 19 in connection with that arrest.

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