Travis Ray Thompson, a 27-year-old Florida man, has been sentenced after allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, Jacklyn Schwingel, by severing her spine.
According to PEOPLE, on May 3, 2022, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was informed that Schwingel had been rushed to the emergency room in critical condition. Although doctors attempted measures to save her life, she reportedly succumbed to her injuries.
Schwingel’s mother reportedly informed police that she had left her 2-year-old daughter in Thompson’s care before going to work. Twenty-five minutes later, she received a call notifying her that something was wrong with her daughter.
“Jacklyn was lifeless, with a shallow pulse and a distended abdomen,” the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office asserted in a statement shared via Facebook.
Schwingel’s mother and Thompson reportedly drove the 2-year-old to the nearby hospital when she stopped breathing.
Per the outlet, when the medical team suspected the 2-year-old was experiencing internal bleeding, they alerted police and the Department of Children and Families. Furthermore, Thompson alleged to authorities that he was in a different room when he heard a loud noise and found the child unresponsive.
“Despite being the only person left with the victim, Thompson claimed he did not know how the victim became injured,” the attorney’s office asserted in the Facebook statement.
Then, on September 1, 2022, the Medical Examiner’s Office determined the 2-year-old’s cause of death:
“…traumatic injuries to the victim’s torso with a severing of her spine and internal bleeding behind her abdomen,” the report asserted per the attorney’s office.
Ultimately, it was determined that Thompson “applied significant, gradual force to the victim’s upper and lower body.” Additionally, he allegedly “bent” the child “backward beyond her natural range of motion until her back broke.”
Subsequently, Thompson was arrested and charged. Then, in early June, Thompson was convicted of First Degree Murder and sentenced to life in prison. Per the New York Post, prosecutors asserted that Thompson was the former boyfriend of the 2-year-old’s mom. She reportedly ended their relationship a week prior to the fatal incident.
WARNING: This post contains graphic descriptions of violence & child abuse.
Travis Ray Thompson, 27, of Florida, will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of first-degree murder in the horrific May 2022 death of 2-year-old Jacklyn Schwingel. Jurors… pic.twitter.com/R06AwNw97q
— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) June 8, 2025
Travis Ray Thompson isn’t the only individual to make recent headlines for murder in the Sunshine State. As The Shade Room previously reported, on May 30, authorities arrived at a home in search of Ra’Myl “Poppie” Pierre. Pierre had reportedly been absent from school since mid-May.
When deputies arrived at the home, Pierre’s mother reportedly took them to her son’s lifeless body. She reportedly told authorities she attempted to “exorcise demons out of the child’s body.”
“When the child had stopped moving and basically passed away, at that point, she felt the child had been released of those demons and was waiting for him to basically come back at that time,” the sheriff’s office asserted.
The post Say WHAT?! Florida Man Sentenced After Allegedly Killing Ex-Girlfriend’s 2-Year-Old Daughter By Severing Her Spine appeared first on The Shade Room.
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