Jeffrey Todd Hoskins

RIPLEY — A Ripley man was convicted of child abuse causing death after an infant female family member died from injuries sustained from him shaking her in 2018.

After a jury trial this week, Jeffrey Todd Hoskins, 28, 6 Meadow Lark Lane, Ripley, was found guilty of child abuse resulting in death, strangulation and involuntary manslaughter, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.

Woman’s and Children’s Hospital in Charleston contacted law enforcement Oct. 7, 2018, in reference to a possible shaken baby case, according to a narrative provided by the sheriff’s department. The baby was in the hospital and succumbed to her injuries Jan. 8, 2020.

“We’ve seen various cases (with) shaken baby (situations), it was that to the extreme. I think the child was 6 months old,” Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger said.

It was reported by Hoskins that he was feeding the baby when she started choking, lost consciousness and stopped breathing but the narrative said his story changed several times.

“When questioned further, Hoskins changed his story and confessed to shaking the child after it choked on formula and lost consciousness. (He) continued to change his story stating that he shook the baby harder than he originally stated,” the narrative said.

While he was questioned, the narrative said Hoskins demonstrated the shaking action on a teddy bear and he “did so by shaking the stuffed bear hard enough for the head to (bob) back and forth.”

A household witness said she saw Hoskins put his hand over her mouth to make her stop crying. After the witness testimony, Hoskins was interrogated again and admitted to shaking the baby and strangling her for crying, the narrative said.

“Hoskins confessed to making up the story about the child choking. (He) stated that the child was crying and wouldn’t stop, so he shook her hard and then held her by the neck and strangled her,” the narrative said.

Throughout the investigation, law enforcement kept in contact with the doctors administering to the baby’s care and the narrative said if she had survived, it would have been likely that she would have sustained brain damage and could have been dependent on a ventilator.

A few days after the incident, doctors reported old blood was found on her tests which was the result of a previous injury.

“That would correlate with Hoskins’ confession of shaking her on four other occasions,” the narrative said.

Hoskins had been previously convicted on charges of drug possession and faced multiple domestic battery and domestic assault charges with the household witness as the victim. He was also convicted for obscene phone calls after “sending sexually explicit pictures to a juvenile,” the narrative said.

These arrests were between December 2011 and March 2017, according to the narrative.

A sheriff’s deputy listened to Hoskins’ calls from prison and looked through his social media accounts where he said he hoped the baby would live so that he wouldn’t go to prison.

According the narrative provided by the sheriff’s department, Hoskins said “she better not die, she needs to get better, fully healed and back to normal so they won’t be too hard on one for this. I’m running from a murder charge, I’m not trying to do life with no mercy in prison, that’s too long, I’m only 25 years old,” Hoskins said on social media. “I would rather die than do the rest of my life in prison.”

He said he would run from law enforcement and the narrative said he also threatened violence toward law enforcement.

In August of 2019, Hoskins told the household witness that he had a gun and was planning on using it on law enforcement.

On Jan. 6, 2020, Hoskins had a warrant for arrest out of Calhoun County for shoplifting, violating his bond from Jackson County. The next day, he was arrested for bond violation and shoplifting.

A jury trial took place in Ripley this week and after 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, child abuse resulting in death and strangulation, which Mellinger believes is contradictory.

“It’s satisfying but not satisfying enough. From a police perspective, we want to see the maximum (charges),” he said. “We’re pleased but it obviously could have been better.”

Now that the jury reached a verdict, sentencing will be scheduled after any post-trial motions and a pre-sentence investigation. Mellinger said he believes Hoskins will be sentenced in the spring and could serve anywhere from 15 years to life in prison.

“We’re appreciative of (the jury’s) service. We’ll be glad to put this behind us,” he said.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.