Oklahoma father accused of killing 7-week-old daughter, faces murder charges

Shawn Bennett, 32-year-old from Oklahoma, is accused of murdering his 7-week-old daughter after the autopsy showed the infant had suffered multiple internal injuries including rib fractures. Lakyn Bennett was found dead late May, but the final autopsy results came last week and the father was immediately arrested.

According to police report, Bennett brought his daughter to hospital for medical help because she was not breathing.

“When officers arrived, they learned from hospital staff that the child was deceased,” Sgt. Dillon Quirk of the Oklahoma City Police Department was quoted as saying by KFOR.

According to documents, investigators said Bennett had told them that he had performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions on Lakyn as she had been “breathing shallowly,” according to the News On 6 report.

Lakyn’s mother had told authorities that Bennett never told her that he was taking Lakyn to the hospital or said that anything was wrong with her, a report by Local 12 News said. She also claimed that Bennett was “short-tempered” with Lakyn but added that she never thought he would hurt her.

Court documents showed doctors said Lakyn had suffered from rib fractures and had injuries consistent with punctured lungs.

Police, who noted that Bennett had not called 911 during the incident, said an autopsy report showed that Lakyn’s injuries were consistent with possibly being squeezed too hard or by blunt force trauma.

“Officers through their investigation along with the state medical examiner’s office determined this to be a homicide,” Quirk said.

A warrant was issued against Bennett following the investigation and he was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail, according to the KFOR report.

Officials have not released Lakyn’s cause of death as the case is still open.

It was unclear if the mother will also face charges in connection to the infant’s death.