SLIDELL, La. -- St. Tammany Deputies arrested a 20-year old Mississippi man for the murder of a 22-month old girl he was babysitting at the time.
"It was not simply shaken baby syndrome that killed this child, but a violent attack," said St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain on Tuesday.
According to investigators, Rubie Boland's grandmother called 911 Thursday, April 1 to report the baby was unresponsive. The baby's mother had left Rubie with her boyfriend, Andrew Roberts of Kiln, Misssissippi.
An ambulance brought Rubie to the hospital but ultimately, efforts to save the child were not successful. She was declared dead Friday afternoon.
Initially, Roberts told authorities the baby fell off a couch and hit her head, but St. Tammany Coroner Dr. Peter Galvan said Rubie suffered "major trauma that could not have been caused by a fall."
"He was babysitting the child and in his own words was 'having a bad day,'" Sheriff Strain explained. "The child used the bathroom on herself and he basically attacked her at that point, picking her up by the feet and slamming her head against the floor repeatedly."
"That is the really brutal part, the savage part of this death," Dr. Peter Galvan said. "The trauma that this child sustained to the brain structures. The gross anatomical findings support what the Sheriff said, that the baby had trauma to the top of the skull."
Late Monday night, deputies arrested Andrew Roberts and charged him with second-degree murder. Roberts is being held without bond inside the St. Tammany Parish Jail. Sheriff Strain said Roberts eventually confessed to his actions.
"It's almost inconceivable for anyone to believe that one is capable of killing a precious child, and this little girl was truly a precious child," Strain said.
The primary cause of death, according to the St. Tammany Coroner's Office, is blunt force trauma to the head. Dr. Galvan said it was caused by an explosive attack. "I don't think the physical evidence reflects anything else," Galvan said, "other than this violent, brutal and savage attack."
Rubie Boland's family chose not to talk with reporters Tuesday. Her funeral is Thursday in Hickory, just north of Pearl River.
Both Strain and Galvan told reporters, this case should be a warning to all parents to look out for signs of child abuse.
"Unexplained bruises are the number one sign that you can rely upon," Galvan said. "If your child has a bruise, and you don't know how that bruise got there, the burden is on someone to explain that."
"And many times just an observant parent or guardian who's questioning the behavior of a child's sitter, could be enough to prevent it from occurring," Strain said.
Andrew Roberts was not the baby's father. According to detectives, he had been dating the baby's mother for roughly three months. He has no prior record, and police do not believe anyone else was involved in the murder.
This is the second murder in St. Tammany Parish in 2010.
