A Florida man who beat his 4-month-old baby to death showed "no remorse," after the killing, according to police.
Jacob Kubai, 23, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the February 2024 death of his baby daughter who was known as "Strawberry." Kubai beat the child to death while her mother was working one of her two jobs.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that on the night in question, Kubai drove, and the baby took the mother to one of her jobs. Upon returning, Kubai played video games.
Around 8:10 p.m., Judd said that Kubai told authorities that he found "Strawberry" unresponsive and began CPR. When that didn't work, he took her to the hospital, where she was then flown to a trauma center.
Aspects of Kubai's story began to fall apart. For example, he told police he went to Wal-Mart with the baby earlier in the evening and shopped for about 10 minutes, but security footage showed that he was alone and had not taken the baby with him during the trip.
Among the injuries that were discovered were a skull fracture, 10 fractured ribs, a hemorrhage in her spine, and multiple, layered brain bleeds. The baby died days later.
Judd said that following an autopsy, it was determined the baby had been struck in the forehead at least 10 times and that the fractured ribs likely happened from the child being squeezed.
"The Baby was literally beaten to death," Judd said. "The only person at home at the time was Jacob."
Judd said that during an initial conversation with detectives, Kubai was lucid and denied knowledge of anything happening to the child. Judd said that Kubai's demeanor changed after he was put in a cell and told that he was likely going to be charged with aggravated manslaughter.
"He started saying things like 'none of this is real.' 'My wife's not real, my baby's not real.' 'This is a fantasy. It just didn't happen.' He began immediately playing games with us."
Judd said that throughout his interactions with law enforcement, Kubai showed no emotion.
"He showed zero remorse. He shed not one tear. And yet he has literally beaten and squeezed his baby to death at four months old. No remorse, no emotion. Nothing," Judd said.
