Court records say the 2-month-old girl died after severe burns went untreated and investigators later found other injuries and signs of drug exposure.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri couple were charged with second-degree murder after investigators said a 2-month-old girl suffered severe burns, went without medical care and died at a hospital on Feb. 11, 2025, according to a probable cause statement filed in Greene County.

Jonathan Gaona, 33, and Stephanie Hernandez, 29, also face child abuse or neglect and child endangerment charges in the death of Hernandez’s daughter, Jaylynn. The case matters now because the newly filed court record gives the first detailed account of what police say happened over several days inside the home, including when the child was burned, how adults responded and why investigators concluded the death was not an accident but a homicide.

According to the court filing, police were sent to a Springfield home on the morning of Feb. 11, 2025, for a report of a 2-month-old baby who was not breathing and whose lips were blue. An officer wrote that the child had major burn-like injuries to her face, torso and back and was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Detectives said the injuries happened sometime between Feb. 7 and Feb. 11 at a residence in Springfield. In an interview, Gaona told police he had put the infant in a bathtub, turned on the hot water and then walked away after becoming distracted by other children in the home. He said he later heard the baby scream and believed that was when she was burned. Gaona told detectives the event was accidental because he got distracted, and he admitted he put the child back in her crib afterward, “not thinking much of it,” the affidavit says.

Detective Chelsea Taylor wrote that she later saw the child at Mercy Hospital and found that much of the infant’s front torso was red and appeared to be missing the top layer of skin. The detective also reported redness and skin loss on part of the left thigh, part of the face and across the upper back, along with marks near the ears that appeared consistent with bruising. Gaona told investigators that after the bath incident, the baby sat in urine for so long that when he tried to dry her, “her skin started peeling off,” and he said she had been left that way for about half a day. Asked why he did not take her for treatment, Gaona said he thought he could “cure it” with cream. He also admitted putting baby powder on the burns because he thought it would harden and help, the affidavit says. Detectives said they later found an internet search for “What to do for baby burns” made at about 9 a.m. on Feb. 10.

The affidavit says Gaona also described other acts that investigators treated as evidence of abuse. He told police he had become overwhelmed while caring for several children in the home and admitted striking the infant after the burns had already happened. Detective Taylor wrote that Gaona said he grabbed the child by the ears and shook her head back and forth because everyone was crying and he could not get her to calm down. He also described a separate incident in which the baby slipped from his hands while he was trying to shower her and “show affection,” and he said she may have struck her head. During questioning, according to the filing, Gaona said, “I accept it, it was my fault,” and later added, “I’m a monster, like really.” The medical examiner’s findings, as summarized in the court record, listed complications of thermal burns as the cause of death, with blunt force head injuries, acute pneumonia and methamphetamine toxicity as contributing factors. The manner of death was ruled homicide.

Investigators said the case against Hernandez centers on what she knew and what she did not do after seeing the child’s condition. According to the affidavit, Hernandez told police she first noticed the baby’s injuries on the morning of Feb. 10 when she got home from work and saw what she described as a rash or burn while the infant was wearing only a diaper. Detectives wrote that she acknowledged seeing the full extent of the injuries and began treating them with corn starch. Hernandez told investigators she did not believe at first that the injuries were burns and thought they may have come from the child sitting in urine. But detectives said she also admitted she did not take the infant to the hospital because she did not want to lose her children. The filing says Hernandez checked on the baby through the day, then was supposed to go to work at about 10 p.m. that night but instead spent the night with a boyfriend for their anniversary, leaving the infant in Gaona’s care. She later told police that her actions resulted in her losing Jaylynn.

The court record adds detail from another adult in the home, whose name was partly redacted in the public filing. That witness told detectives she arrived home from work for lunch at about 11 a.m. on Feb. 10 and was told the infant had a “rash.” The witness said she told Hernandez the baby needed to go to a doctor, but Hernandez said she was going to put powder on it instead. The same witness later said she again urged Hernandez to take the child with her that night because of the extent of the injuries. Early the next morning, after being awakened by distress in another room, the witness found Gaona holding the baby and said they needed to call 911. According to detectives, Gaona told her no and begged her not to place the call. The witness called anyway, saying the child would die if they did not act at once. Police also reported that officers found a makeshift sleeping pallet on top of a waist-high dresser, with blankets soaked through several layers with urine, dried stains and a substantial amount of white powder, along with a tube of antiseptic cream.

Investigators also used work schedules, text messages and test results to build a timeline. The affidavit says Gaona sent Hernandez a text at about 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 10 saying the baby’s skin looked burned, and another message minutes later said he was warning her before she came home and reacted. Detectives checked Hernandez’s schedule and wrote that she worked overnight shifts on Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, then used an emergency day on Feb. 10 even though police said she spent the night with her boyfriend. Based on the texts and that schedule, investigators concluded the infant’s injuries were likely sustained during the evening or early morning hours of Feb. 9 or Feb. 10, before 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 10. The filing also says drug tests were done on five other children living in the same home and all tested positive for amphetamines and methamphetamines, while three also tested positive for cannabinoids. Detectives wrote that both Gaona and Hernandez refused to take a drug test.

Gaona is charged with second-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child resulting in serious emotional or physical injury and child endangerment. Hernandez is charged with second-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child and child endangerment. The probable cause statement was signed by Detective Taylor and electronically filed in Greene County on Feb. 19, 2026, roughly a year after Jaylynn’s death. Law enforcement asked that arrest warrants be issued in part because the couple could still potentially regain guardianship of other biological children, according to the filing. Public reporting on the case said both defendants were ordered held without bond after the charges were filed. Online court information available through public portals did not show the next hearing dates at the time of that reporting.

The record describes a crowded and unstable setting inside the home in the days before the child died. Gaona told detectives he had been left to care for the infant for “two or three days” while Hernandez worked overnight shifts and while several other young children were also in the residence. He said he had attachment issues toward the baby, who investigators said was not his biological child, and admitted he was overwhelmed. Hernandez and Gaona had divorced but were still living together, and detectives wrote that Hernandez’s boyfriend was the infant’s biological father. After the child’s death, outside reporting said Hernandez created an online fundraiser seeking help with funeral costs. In the court record itself, detectives kept the focus on the hours before the baby died: the visible burns, the delayed treatment, the 911 call and the medical findings that turned the death into a homicide case.

The case stood at the charging stage as of the latest public record, with both defendants facing murder and child abuse related counts in Greene County and further court proceedings expected to determine bond status, scheduling and the next steps toward trial.