Milwaukee man pleads in death of son beaten for eating Father’s Day cheesecake

MILWAUKEE (TCD) --

A Milwaukee man pleaded guilty during a homicide trial last week for the death of his 5-year-old son in 2019.

Travis Stackhouse, 30, was arrested in June 2019 and charged with first-degree reckless homicide. Stackhouse admitted last week to punching his 5-year-old son, causing the boy’s death, in the 2019 incident.

Stackhouse was reportedly angry his children had been eating his Father’s Day cheesecake.

Milwaukee Police responded to a report of an injured child at a house on the 2600 block of West Ruby Avenue at about 3 a.m. on June 22, 2019.

A 5-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the child had bruising on both eyes, a cut on his lip, and a laceration to his sternum.

Police said Stackhouse lived at the residence with his girlfriend and their five children. Police said Stackhouse, his girlfriend and family members were gathered outside their residence on June 22. Stackhouse reportedly went inside and found his three oldest children eating his Father’s Day cake.

WITI-TV reported an older brother of the victim, who was 6 at the time, said Stackhouse hit the 5-year-old boy in the stomach and back. Stackhouse told officers the 5-year-old fell down the stairs, but he eventually admitted to punching the boy in the stomach and hitting him in the face for eating the cake. Stackhouse said he had one piece, and he “was upset that others were eating it.”

Stackhouse reportedly left the house after striking the boy, and went out to a bar with friends until about 2 a.m. When he got home, his girlfriend called 911.

Stackhouse was on trial last week for first-degree reckless homicide in the death of the boy, identified as Sir Amer Stackhouse. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that after two days of testimony from the state's witnesses, Stackhouse agreed to plead guilty to second-degree reckless homicide, child abuse and child neglect. Stackhouse faces up to 37 years in prison at his sentencing next month, the Journal Sentinel reports.

Stackhouse admitted to striking the boy in the face with the back of his hand, which Stackhouse said is heavier than normal “because of metal inside from a surgery,” the Journal Sentinel reports.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he suffered a ruptured stomach, bruised kidneys and a torn adrenal gland. He died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen, according to the Journal Sentinel.

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