Investigators say the infant suffered severe injuries before she was removed from life support 10 days after entering a hospital.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Florida man was arrested in March and accused in the 2024 death of his 5-week-old daughter after Volusia County investigators said medical records, interviews and an autopsy tied the infant’s fatal injuries to shaking and forceful handling.

Dajuan Patrick, 27, now faces an aggravated manslaughter of a child charge in a case that moved from a child death investigation to a criminal prosecution more than a year after the baby’s hospitalization. The immediate stakes are procedural: Patrick is being held without bond as Volusia County authorities move the case toward extradition and court review.

The case began on the night of Dec. 2, 2024, when Dahlia Siebenhaar was taken to a hospital unresponsive. Doctors placed the infant on life support, and she never regained consciousness. Ten days later, on Dec. 12, life support was withdrawn. That hospital-to-death timeline became the spine of the sheriff’s investigation, which stretched into 2026. When Volusia County deputies announced the arrest on March 11, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the charge could not restore “the childhood she deserved,” but added that investigators were “speaking up for her” because “her life mattered.”

Investigators said medical and autopsy records showed a pattern of injuries that went far beyond a single unexplained medical crisis. Authorities said Dahlia had extensive head trauma, broken ribs, bruising across her body and retinal hemorrhages. Volusia County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James Fulcher later ruled the death a homicide, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies said interviews with people familiar with the infant’s living situation helped them conclude Patrick had shaken and spanked the baby, causing the injuries. Authorities have not publicly detailed each witness account, and court filings available in news reports do not spell out a full minute-by-minute reconstruction of what happened before Dahlia was hospitalized.

The long gap between the child’s death and the arrest is central to the story. Dahlia died in December 2024, but Patrick was not taken into custody until March 2026. In cases involving infant trauma, investigators often build the file through hospital records, autopsy findings and repeated interviews rather than an immediate street arrest. That approach appears to have shaped this case. By the time deputies sought a warrant, the sheriff’s office said it had assembled interviews, medical documentation and other evidence pointing to the father. The investigation also turned a death first handled as a medical emergency into a homicide case with a named defendant.

Patrick was taken into custody in Jacksonville on a Volusia County warrant, and local reports said prosecutors later sought pretrial detention. A follow-up court development kept him jailed without bond while authorities prepared for the next stage in Volusia County. The charge is aggravated manslaughter of a child, a serious felony under Florida law. Public reporting so far does not show a trial date, plea or a full probable cause affidavit released in the case coverage. The next likely milestones are extradition, a formal court appearance in Volusia County and additional filings that could show more of the state’s evidence.

The public face of the case has come largely through the sheriff’s office rather than extended courtroom testimony. The agency announced the arrest in a short statement and placed its emphasis on the infant, not the accused. Chitwood’s statement gave the case an unmistakable emotional frame while staying tied to the criminal allegation. News photographs paired a booking image of Patrick with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office building in DeLand, underscoring how a private family tragedy had become a public prosecution. Even with the arrest made, major details remain outside public view, including what Patrick told investigators in full and whether the defense will challenge the medical conclusions.

Patrick remains jailed without bond in reporting on the case, and the next milestone is his transfer or appearance in Volusia County for further proceedings.

Author note: Last updated April 7, 2026.