JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man will serve life behind bars for the death of 1-year-old Elijah Jackson.
JSO began investigating the case on April 9, 2023, when the baby was taken to UF Health and then Wolfson Children’s Hospital with multiple severe injuries, according to an arrest report. Elijah died several days after being admitted.
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Based on Elijah’s injuries, detectives with the Special Assault Unit (SAU) were called to the hospital.
The child’s mother, Cornelia Roberts, was at brunch with friends when she received a phone call from Tracorvis Strickland, who is not the child’s father, saying that the baby had vomited and stopped breathing.
Strickland told police he laid the child down for a nap with another person and when he went to check on them, he found the baby choking, vomiting and limp.
Strickland called 911 and started performing CPR, then Elijah was taken to the hospital, according to the report.
Jackson’s grandmother said he went into cardiac arrest and suffered internal injuries, bleeding on the brain, broken bones and a vertebrae on his spine was chipped.
Police ruled the child’s death as a homicide and interviewed Strickland. He was charged with murder in the second degree and aggravated child abuse.
Strickland pleaded guilty to in October.
Roberts is awaiting trial on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child.