More on Florida dad arrested for 1st-degree murder (Orange County, Florida)

We just reported on this case in the post directly below. Surely enough, the mother says she was deathly afraid of KEITH SKINNER--and had the injuries to prove it. And that she was working to support his deadbeat, abusive @$$--while Daddy made a mockery of being a "caretaker" by throwing and abusing the baby.

But how much you want to bet she will be charged anyway, though nobody was protecting or helping her when authorities released him from prison and back into the community where he could resume terrorizing her and their children?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-child-abuse-death-bond-20100914,0,6404111.story

Father faces first-degree murder charge in infant son's death
Keith Skinner now faces a first-degree murder charge in 7-month-old son's child abuse death.

7:24 a.m. EDT, September 15, 2010

The death of a 7-month-old boy who was killed in a child-abuse incident over the weekend was ruled a homicide by preliminary autopsy results released Tuesday by the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia performed the autopsy Monday and declared the manner ofdeath to be homicide, but her office did not release the specific cause of death because the case remains under investigation by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The boy's father, Keith Skinner, is accused of child abuse in connection with his infant son's death and must remain in jail, a judge ordered Tuesday.

"I'm finding probable cause for first-degree murder," Orange County Judge Kenneth Barlow said of the charges. "Bond is set at none."

Skinner, 30, was arrested on one count of aggravated child abuse, but now faces a first-degree murder charge. During most of the hearing Tuesday at the Orange County Jail, Skinner stood in front of the judge with his hand over his face.

Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff's Office arrested Skinner Sunday after his son, Triumph Alexander Skinner, died at Arnold Palmer Hospital.

Doctors discovered Triumph suffered a "perforated bowel" and a "severely fractured skull" when he was taken to the hospital by Orange County Fire Rescue Sunday around noon, according to Skinner's arrest affidavit. The infant also had "numerous fractured ribs which were in various stages of healing," the report said.

Triumph was rushed into surgery, but died.

During an interview with detectives, the child's mother initially said she was in the bathroom getting ready for work when the baby fell from a bed and hit his head on something. She later changed her story and said Skinner, her boyfriend and father of her two children — a 7-year-old girl and Triumph — was caring for the children while she was at work.

The problems started on Saturday evening when the mother came home from work and the child was "very lethargic and moaning." When she tried to feed the baby, he threw up.

Skinner told his girlfriend then that he had "roughed him [Triumph] up."

On Sunday morning the mother left for work at 7 a.m., and the child was still asleep. She said Skinner called her at work around 11 a.m. and said she needed to come home immediately because Skinner had "hurt" the baby by accident, the affidavit said.

When she returned home 15 minutes later, the baby was on the bed and not breathing. Skinner told her he had "slammed" the infant's head against the couch.

Skinner told their 7-year-old daughter to tell police that he was not home and she was asleep when the baby was injured. He also told his girlfriend to lie to police about whether he was at home, the document states.

The mother told Skinner to leave and then she would call 911.

The mother said she has been abused by Skinner in the past and was afraid of him. Investigators noted the woman had bruises on her face, neck and throat. Deputies arrested Skinner later that evening at the family home.

During an interview with homicide detectives Skinner initially denied knowing his child was hurt. He later said he went home drunk on Friday night and "stepped" on the boy's stomach and could have caused the injuries, the report said.

Skinner claimed he didn't know how the boy's skull was fractured, but admitted he regularly throws Triumph in the air and dropped him by accident once and that could have caused the rib fractures.

Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner described the child's injuries as "heinous" and "severe."

The family has been on DCF's radar for some years. DCF investigators received a report of child abuse in 2004.

In that case, Skinner told deputies he used a belt to hit his daughter, who was 2 at the time. Skinner pleaded guilty that year to child abuse, a third-degree felony, court records show.

The 7-year-old child also living in the home has been placed in foster care while the investigation into Triumph's death continues, Hoeppner said.

Walter Pacheco can be reached at wpacheco@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6262. Bianca Prieto can be reached at bprieto@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5620.