Man pleads guilty to killing his 5-year-old son in Milwaukee

Listen to this article

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A man who fatally punched his 5-year-old son over a piece of cheesecake has been convicted of homicide in Milwaukee County.

Thirty-year-old Travis Stackhouse had been on trial this week for first-degree reckless homicide in the June 2019 death of his son, Sir Amer Stackhouse. After two days of testimony from the state’s witnesses, Stackhouse on Wednesday agreed to plead guilty to second-degree reckless homicide, child abuse and child neglect.

According to prosecutors, Stackhouse was angry that his children were eating cheesecake he had gotten for Father’s Day earlier in the week and admitted striking the boy, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Then Stackhouse left the house and went to a bar with friends until about 2 a.m. When he got home, his girlfriend and mother of the boy called 911, according to a criminal complaint.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the child suffered a ruptured stomach, bruised kidneys and a torn adrenal gland. He died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen.

Stackhouse is faced with as many as 37 years in prison at his sentencing June 29.