Remorseless Father 'Viciously Murdered' Infant Daughter — and Now He Learns His Fate

• Jacob Kubai entered a guilty plea to a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child in a deal with prosecutors
• His infant daughter had a fractured skull, broken ribs, scratches, bruising and no brain activity when he took her to the hospital in the early hours of Feb. 23, 2024
• A judge has now sentenced Kubai to 30 years in prison

A Florida man charged in the “vicious” death of his infant daughter entered a guilty plea to a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Jacob Kubai, 23, entered that plea in a deal with the State’s Attorneys’ Office, who agreed to drop charges of aggravated child abuse and abuse of a child without great bodily harm.

An investigation into the infant’s death began shortly after Kubai brought her to the Barstow Regional Medical Center in the early morning hours of Feb. 23, 2024, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.

Four-month-old Willow had no brain activity and questionable injuries upon arrival, according to members of the medical staff, who ultimately decided to airlift the baby to a hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit.

The attending physician for the PICU found that the infant had numerous injuries, including: a fracture at the top of the skull, fractured ribs, multiple layers of hemorrhaging to the brain, new and healing scratches on the back of the head, a bruised eye, red scratches on and around the nose and a bruise on the right side of the forehead, according to the affidavit.

In their interview with detectives, the attending physician said these injuries were consistent with abuse or a traumatic injury.

An autopsy report released soon after determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death to be homicide.

The autopsy report also noted that the infant’s broken ribs were in various states of healing and that the skull fracture the infant suffered would have been caused on the same night she was taken to the hospital.

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Detectives spoke with Kubai and the child’s mother, Rebekah Knorr, prior to receiving the results from the autopsy report.

Knorr told detectives that she worked on the evening of Feb. 22, and that the infant had no visible bruises and seemed “fine” when she left for work, according to the affidavit.

In his interview with detectives, Kubai said that when he and the infant returned home from dropping Knorr off at work he started playing video games and put her in her crib. He claimed the pair later went to Wal-Mart for some chicken stock and a few hours after, Kubai said he walked into the living room to discover his daughter was not breathing.

In a second interview with Kubai, detectives pointed out that video from Wal-Mart showed him shopping alone that night, according to the affidavit. They also learned that Kubai had left his daughter unattended in the home on at least one other occasion.

Detectives then questioned him about each of his daughter’s many injuries, but Kubai stated that he no longer wished to speak with law enforcement.

At a press conference following his arrest, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that Kubai claimed, “None of this is real. My wife’s not real, my baby’s not real.”

Judd said Kubai “viciously murdered his daughter.” He said the injuries were so severe that it left no doubt how she was killed. “I don’t know how a father could do this to his child, but I do know he should be locked-up for as long as the law allows.”

Judd said Kubai showed “no remorse” and “no emotion”  during his interviews.

Kubai is now heading to prison after a judge sentenced him to 30 years for aggravated manslaughter. He will get credit for the 461 days he has already served in jail.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.