The 3-month-old baby lost more than two pounds as adults around him recognized his declining condition but failed to obtain medical care, investigators say.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A nearly yearlong investigation into the death of a 3-month-old boy has led to charges against four adults after authorities concluded the infant died from dehydration and malnutrition while living in a Fort Pierce mobile home where investigators documented severe neglect and hazardous conditions.

The case began Aug. 20, 2025, when Robert Maxwell and his girlfriend, Vikki Koon, brought the child, Robert Gunter, to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center. Medical personnel pronounced the infant dead and alerted the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office after observing conditions that raised concerns about neglect. Investigators later said the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and attributed it to dehydration and malnutrition. The findings turned what began as a response to an infant’s death into a lengthy criminal investigation involving medical records, interviews, electronic messages and the condition of the home where the child had been staying.

Detectives focused on the boy’s rapid physical decline in the weeks before his death. According to court records described by local news organizations, Robert weighed more than 11 pounds at a doctor’s appointment on July 24, 2025. Less than a month later, he weighed about 9 pounds. Investigators described him as severely underweight and said his ribs had become more prominent than his abdomen. The change in weight became a central piece of the case because authorities allege the adults responsible for him had time to see his condition worsen before he was taken to a hospital.

The child was living primarily with his grandfather, Robert Maxwell, and Koon rather than with his mother, Nicole Maxwell, investigators said. Koon told detectives that she was largely responsible for feeding the infant. According to the arrest material, she said she generally fed him only twice a day. When formula was unavailable, investigators said, she described using a mixture that included regular milk diluted with water and baby cereal. Authorities allege the feeding routine failed to provide the infant with the food and fluids he needed and contributed to the condition documented at the time of his death.

The investigation also examined the environment surrounding the child. Court records and detectives described boarded windows, exposed electrical wiring and large numbers of live and dead cockroaches inside the mobile home. Insects were reported in areas used by children, including a collapsed playpen. Investigators characterized the residence as an environmental hazard. Other children were also staying at the property, according to local reporting, and authorities said Nicole Maxwell’s other children were later in foster care. The Department of Children and Families had previously been involved with the family, investigators said, though officials have not publicly detailed every earlier contact or what action resulted from each one.

Evidence gathered from family communications suggested concerns about the infant existed before the day he died. Investigators reviewed Facebook messages in which Robert Maxwell complained about the difficulty of caring for the child and tried to get the baby’s parents to take responsibility. About two weeks before the death, according to the affidavit cited by Law&Crime, he questioned why others were not caring for the baby and indicated that something appeared wrong because the infant was sleeping excessively. Other reported messages included a warning that the household had run out of food for the child. Authorities say those exchanges helped establish that the baby’s declining health and the problems surrounding his care were not discovered only after he died.

Nicole Maxwell did not live full time at the mobile home, investigators said. She was staying with a boyfriend in Vero Beach and visited the child. Detectives allege that she saw the infant on the day before his death and could see that he was thin, ill and unusually unresponsive. According to accounts of her interview with investigators, Maxwell said she had considered getting medical attention but left because her boyfriend was pressing her to return home. Her father had urged her to remain and help with the child, investigators said. Authorities allege that despite the signs visible to the adults around him, no one obtained emergency care before the child was brought to the hospital the following day.

The first major charging decision came in July 2026, nearly 11 months after Robert’s death. Nicole Maxwell, 27; Robert Maxwell, 61; and Koon, 38, were arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse, according to the sheriff’s office. Bond was initially set at $1.5 million for each defendant. The charges are accusations, and the prosecution must prove them in court. Publicly released accounts of the investigation do not establish that any defendant has been convicted or entered a plea resolving the case.

St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jennifer Diaz, who worked the investigation, described it publicly as one of the worst cases she had encountered in two decades of law enforcement. She said even the written facts did not fully convey what investigators observed when they responded to the hospital. Authorities have emphasized the infant’s inability, because of his age, to obtain food, fluids or medical help for himself. Their case instead centers on what the adults responsible for him allegedly knew, what they observed and what they failed to do as his health deteriorated.

The investigation widened again on Aug. 4, 2026, when the sheriff’s office announced the arrest of the child’s biological father, Jason Gunter, 45. U.S. marshals took him into custody at his residence in Mechanicsville, Virginia, on a warrant obtained by St. Lucie County detectives. Authorities charged him with felony child neglect resulting in great harm. That charge differs from the aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse counts filed against the other three defendants. Investigators have not publicly released the same level of detail about the evidence supporting the father’s charge as has been reported from the affidavits involving the three Florida defendants.

At the time of the father’s arrest, authorities said he had been living in Virginia while the infant remained in Florida. The earlier investigative record included messages sent to him by Robert Maxwell as concerns mounted about the baby’s condition. The sheriff’s office said Jason Gunter was awaiting extradition when it announced the arrest. The agency described his arrest as the fourth resulting from the investigation and said the case remained active. No later authoritative public announcement located through Aug. 29 provided a final resolution of the charges against any of the four defendants.

The roughly 11-month span between the child’s death and the first arrests reflects the amount of evidence investigators said they assembled before seeking charges. Detectives relied on the medical examiner’s determination, the infant’s weight history, statements from caregivers, communications among family members and observations from the home. The investigation also required authorities to determine which adults had responsibility for the child at different points. The arrest affidavits represent law enforcement’s account of that evidence; questions about legal responsibility will ultimately be resolved through the court process rather than by the allegations themselves.

Jason Gunter’s Aug. 4 arrest brought the number of adults charged in connection with Robert’s care to four and extended the investigation beyond the Fort Pierce household where the infant had been staying. He was arrested in Virginia on a Florida warrant charging child neglect resulting in great harm, while Nicole Maxwell, Robert Maxwell and Koon face aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse counts. The different charges reflect investigators’ separate allegations about each adult’s role. No final disposition of those cases had been publicly reported through Aug. 29.

Author note: Last updated Aug. 29, 2026.