An Oskaloosa, Iowa man faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of a seven-week-old infant he was babysitting.
Doctors at a Mahaska County emergency room notified police when the baby girl was taken there for treatment of injuries she suffered Thursday, April 18, 2013. The baby’s mother told police the child had been left in the care of a family friend, 24-year-old Bryan Draper Vilcone of Oskaloosa.
The baby was later transferred to a Des Moines hospital for additional treatment. She died Sunday, April 21. A preliminary autopsy report showed she likely died of abusive head trauma.
In an affidavit filed in Mahaska County Court, police said Vilcone admitted to shaking the baby “on at least 3 separate occasions during the late afternoon of April 18, 2013 because the child was crying. He stated that after the final shaking the child quit crying and was merely wimpering. The defendant also admitted being responsible for the child’s injuries.”
Vilcone was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Vilcone was held in the Mahaska County Jail.
