MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A 27-year-old Ocala man was found guilty Wednesday of killing a 2-year-old girl in 2022, according to the state attorney’s office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida.
After nearly two hours of deliberation, a Marion County jury found Travis Ray Thompson guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Jacklyn Schwingel, the state attorney’s office said in a news release.
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Schwingel had been brought to an emergency room in critical condition on May 3, 2022, where she was later pronounced dead, the release states.
The medical team at the hospital suspected the child had suffered internal bleeding and reported potential child abuse to the MCSO and the Department of Children and Families. When detectives interviewed Thompson, he claimed that he and the victim were in separate rooms when he heard a loud noise and then located the victim unresponsive and not breathing. Despite being the only person left with the victim, Thompson claimed he did not know how the victim became injured.
THOMPSON FOUND GUILTY OF TODDLER'S MURDER (excerpt) State Attorney's Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida (excerpt)
Through investigative means — as well as upon the medical examiner’s conclusion that the toddler’s cause of death was “traumatic injuries to the (...) torso with a severing of her spine and internal bleeding behind her abdomen” — investigators determined Thompson had “applied significant, gradual force to the victim’s upper and lower body and bent her backward beyond her natural range of motion until her back broke,” according to the release.