GRUESOME

Florida Man Allegedly Killed Toddler by Severing Her Spine

The sheriff’s office said Travis Ray Thompson applied “significant, gradual force” to his victim.

A Florida man was arrested Thursday on first-degree murder charges for a May 3 incident in which he allegedly severed the spine of a toddler in his custody, according to a release by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Travis Ray Thompson, 25, claims that he and the child were in separate rooms when he suddenly heard a loud noise that alerted him to her, reportedly finding her “unresponsive and taking shallow breaths.” But Thompson didn’t call 911 right away. Instead, he waited 30 minutes for the girl’s mother to arrive before journeying to the hospital, a delay that caused her to stop breathing. “Based on the severity and nature of the break, it was determined that Thompson applied significant, gradual force to the victim’s upper and lower body from the front with a fulcrum point on her lower back,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a statement. Thompson was already on probation for not complying with an injunction to prevent child abuse.