Man beat minor son while siblings were playing in the other room, locked him for days with the family dog while the whole family went on a trip, dies

As the number of domestic violent cases is on the rise, more and more minors end up injured or even dead in such cases and they are usually nothing but a collateral damage. So was the case with the 12-year-old Noah who was beaten by his dad last month and then locked in the laundry room alone with their family dog, while his father, the father’s girlfriend and Noah’s siblings went on an out of state two-day-long trip. The boy eventually died.

The father who later admitted the beating was identified as the 33-year-old Jason Godleski, and the father’s girlfriend was identified as the 30-year-old S. Dubose. They were both arrested in regards to the incident and face several charges each.

Instead of celebrating his birthday in the month of October as every other 12 years old child, Noah was beaten hard until he was “crying and eventually moaning,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WFSB.

Jason forced the little boy into the laundry room in their Florida family home due to misbehaving and started yelling and beating him while Noah’s screaming, moaning and crying could be heard from the adjacent room where his step-siblings were playing.

Jason exited the laundry room shortly after, locked Noah inside and left with his girlfriend and their three other children heading to Connecticut to visit family relatives. He returned to Florida two days later and reported Noah’s death from police headquarters’ lobby.

According to the police report, Jason detailed the exact place where authorities would find his son’s body. “He’s in the first door on the right when you walk through the front door and I have the key. There’s also a dog there, so you also want to get someone there for the dog,” he said.

While talking to the dispatcher he eventually said: “I know you guys are gonna come down here and take me away, but can I just smoke a cigarette real quick?”

Police found Noah’ body in the laundry room with apparent evidence of trauma. They said the body must have been there for at least a couple of days.

Authorities conducted a further investigation which showed that Noah had been abused for several years by Jason and Dubose. Dubose was arrested in 2013 on allegations of child abuse against Noah and there was also a possible allegation of child abuse and neglect in 2018. Noah’s teacher reported to Florida’s Department of Children and Families that his student was victim of child abuse and casted suspicion on Jason and Dubose.

According to the investigation records, police intercepted a phone call in which Dubois said: “We hit him too hard in the face and the back of the head.”

Noah’s biological mother, M. Powell, was visibly shaken after police informed her about the cruel and heinous incident. “I didn’t get to see him, they let him rot in the laundry room for days so now I don’t even get to have an open casket,” Powell said.

Jason and Dubose were arrested and they are both facing charges of aggravated manslaughter and failure to report a death. Investigation into Noah’s death continues and the charges against Jason and Dubose could be upgraded.