Investigators say an autopsy identified three head impacts and linked one distinctive injury to a ring worn by the baby’s mother.

LAKELAND, Fla. — A medical examiner’s findings transformed what Jessica Vlasac initially described as a possible co-sleeping death into a criminal investigation focused on a series of head injuries and a large ring detectives noticed on her hand, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Vlasac, 42, was arrested Sept. 10 and accused of aggravated child abuse after her 3-month-old son died four days earlier.

The case rests in large part on forensic findings that authorities say did not match Vlasac’s first explanation of what happened inside her Lakeland home. Deputies said she told them she had accidentally fallen asleep in bed with the infant and could not remember what happened afterward. An autopsy, however, documented subdural hemorrhaging and three separate impact injuries to the baby’s head. Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson later examined a ring seized from Vlasac and said the injuries were consistent with the child being struck by it, according to the sheriff’s office. Nelson also found no evidence that co-sleeping caused the death.

Deputies were called to Vlasac’s home at about 11:58 p.m. Sept. 6 after someone reported that the infant was unresponsive. The child was taken to Orlando Health Medical in Lakeland and was pronounced dead shortly afterward, the sheriff’s office said. An abrasion and bruising were visible on his head. Authorities have not publicly identified the baby. During the initial response, Vlasac told deputies she had fallen asleep with the child and later awoke to find him face down on the bed, motionless and cold. She also made a statement indicating that she believed she might have caused his death while she was asleep, investigators said.

The autopsy became a turning point. Nelson found bleeding beneath the tissue surrounding the brain as well as three separate areas of impact on the head, according to investigators. One injury on the baby’s forehead measured about 1.7 centimeters by 1 centimeter and had an L-shaped appearance. The medical examiner told detectives that the mark appeared consistent with an impact from a square-like object. Those findings gave investigators a physical feature they could compare with possible objects as they continued interviewing Vlasac and other people connected to the case.

During a later interview with Vlasac, detectives noticed that she was wearing a large ring with a diamond-like stone whose shape appeared consistent with the type of object described by the medical examiner, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the ring and for Vlasac’s electronic devices. As deputies collected the ring, authorities said Vlasac spontaneously asked whether it was the object that had killed the infant. The sheriff’s office did not characterize that question as a confession, and the publicly released account does not say that Vlasac admitted deliberately striking the child.

Nelson then conducted a follow-up examination involving the seized ring. According to the sheriff’s office, he advised investigators that the infant’s injuries were consistent with being struck by the ring as part of the impacts documented during the autopsy. Authorities also said his findings did not support Vlasac’s suggestion that the child died because she had fallen asleep beside him. The distinction is central to the case: the original account described an unintended death during sleep, while the autopsy identified multiple impacts that investigators said required a different explanation. The sheriff’s office has not released a full autopsy report or a complete reconstruction of how each injury occurred.

Detectives also examined communications between Vlasac and the infant’s father. According to the sheriff’s office, the father told investigators that Vlasac becomes violent when she consumes alcohol. That description is an allegation from a witness, not an independent medical or legal finding. The father showed detectives messages indicating that Vlasac had purchased alcoholic shots at about noon on the day the baby died, authorities said. Later that night, she sent him several messages saying that she had killed the infant and that the child was dead. Investigators said some messages had been deleted. The sheriff’s office has not publicly released the complete exchange, so the context surrounding those communications remains unavailable.

Other people who were inside the home did not report witnessing what caused the baby’s injuries. Household members told investigators they believed Vlasac and the infant were sleeping in her room and said they did not notice anything suspicious beforehand, according to the sheriff’s office. They became aware that something was wrong after hearing Vlasac screaming. That account left detectives without a publicly identified eyewitness to the critical events inside the room. Instead, the investigation described by authorities relied on the condition of the child, the medical examiner’s conclusions, the ring, electronic communications and statements gathered afterward.

The infant’s father also described a conversation that took place several days after the death. He told detectives that Vlasac sounded unusually normal while discussing what had happened, according to investigators. He further said she asked him not to show detectives the messages between them. Authorities included those statements in their public account of the investigation, but they have not released a recording of the later conversation or said whether one exists. As with the father’s comments about alcohol, those assertions remain attributed to him rather than established independently through material made public by law enforcement.

Deputies arrested Vlasac on Sept. 10, four days after the child died. The sheriff’s office announced that she had been charged with aggravated child abuse, a first-degree felony, in a case involving the infant’s death. News reports citing jail information also listed additional allegations of resisting an officer with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer, firefighter or emergency medical worker. The sheriff’s public narrative about the infant’s death did not provide details about those additional counts. An arrest and criminal charge are accusations, and the available records reviewed for this report do not establish that Vlasac has been convicted of any offense arising from the child’s death.

The public record released by investigators leaves important questions unanswered. Authorities have not disclosed a motive or a detailed minute-by-minute account of what happened in the bedroom. They have not publicly identified the infant, released the complete autopsy, or made all of Vlasac’s communications available. The sheriff’s office said when announcing the arrest that its investigation remained ongoing. Earlier reports listed court proceedings scheduled for October, but the sources reviewed for this article did not establish the outcome of those proceedings or a final resolution of the case as of Oct. 21. The forensic findings, communications and witness accounts therefore remain evidence supporting allegations that must ultimately be tested through the court process.

Author note: Last updated Oct. 21, 2026.