5-Month-Old Florida Infant Found Dead In Truck After Being Shot By Mother, Accused Charged

A woman from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was arrested Tuesday for fatally shooting her infant son.

Around 8.30 a.m. on March 25, a crew of workers saw a woman standing outside a pickup truck in the parking lot of The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island with a gunshot wound. They immediately alerted the police. Officers arrived at the scene and found the woman, later identified as 30-year old Maria Rodriguez-Barnes, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her torso. They then discovered her five-month-old son in the truck.

“They then discovered five-month-old Jaxxon Rodriguez-Barnes seated in the left rear floorboard of the truck, slumped over a pillow. He had been shot once in the chest,” a press release by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said.

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene. The mother was taken to a local hospital where she was listed stable. Meanwhile, a search warrant was executed on the vehicle during which a “9 mm handgun, shell casings, and handwritten notes” were found.

"Rodriguez-Barnes had also texted and emailed family members about her pending plans," the release stated.

Following her discharge from the hospital, the woman was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with first-degree premeditated murder. Investigation into the incident was ongoing.

The incident comes two months after a woman in Florida was arrested for trying to kill her three children, including a 6-month-old baby. When the woman, identified as 31-year-old Ailenys Carmenate, forced her elbow against the infant’s neck, her nine-year-old daughter tried to fight her off.

Meanwhie, the woman’s boyfriend managed to rescue the infant. When all of them tried to flee, the woman tried to choke her daughter and 12-year-old son. While the infant suffered a head injury, the other two children had marks on their necks. The woman was taken into custody and charged with premeditated attempted murder and child abuse. She was jailed without bond.