Who is Joseph Troy Napier? Florida man arrested after fatally choking two-month-old daughter with baby wipe
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA: Back in 2021, a heart-wrenching incident in Florida saw the 30-year-old Joseph Troy Napier allegedly kill his own 2-month-old infant daughter when he was trying to "shut her up." The Florida dad has finally been apprehended and arrested on August 24.
Napier has been arrested on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child. He faces serious allegations in the tragic case that had sent shockwaves through the community at the time.
Joseph Troy Napier allegedly shoved baby wipe down infant's throat
A press release from the Indian River County Sheriff's Office unveiled the devastating sequence of events that took place on May 28, 2021, at a residence on 6th Avenue in Vero Beach.
Responding to a desperate call, IRCSO deputies and fire department medics arrived to find a 2-month-old girl, Iris Napier, unresponsive. Her father, Joseph Troy Napier, had made the call, alerting authorities to the dire situation.
The emergency medics and first responders embarked on a frantic quest to save young Iris' life.
However, these efforts were in vain. Soon, it became clear that the circumstances surrounding her condition were far more sinister than initially thought.
The investigation that followed uncovered a chilling truth that defies comprehension.
A baby wipe was discovered lodged deep within the infant's throat. The positioning of the wipe left no room for doubt that this was no accidental ingestion.
The authorities quickly realized that they were dealing with a deeply distressing case of child abuse that had ended in Iris' death.
What happened to Iris Napier?
During the preliminary investigation, Joseph Troy Napier provided a distressing account of the events that led to his daughter's demise.
He recounted that he had left the infant unattended on a couch with his 18-month-old daughter for approximately 10 minutes. Upon his return, he discovered that the child was choking and in distress.
Shockingly, despite realizing the severity of the situation, Napier waited for approximately 5 minutes before calling 911, as revealed by detectives.
It was later determined that Napier had spent around 30 minutes on his cell phone, making his timeline of events inaccurate and raising concerns about his actions during those crucial life or death moments.
The autopsy conducted on Iris Napier delivered heart-wrenching findings. Her cause of death was determined to be "asphyxia due to an obstruction of the airway due to a foreign object."
The manner of her death, however, remained classified as "unknown," underscoring the unsettling nature of her tragic fate.
As the investigation delved into the events leading up to Iris' untimely demise, more unsettling details emerged.
Joseph Miller, the infant's grandfather and a resident of the same home, provided a chilling account of a disturbing encounter with Napier.
Less than an hour before the 911 call, Miller had witnessed Napier standing over the baby, aggressively yelling at her. “You need to shut the f— up!” he stated, per the affidavit.
Investigation unveils the truth
Despite Napier's suggestions that the 18-month-old sibling may have been involved, investigators decisively refuted this possibility.
Precise measurements of the sibling's physical capabilities conclusively demonstrated that she could not have been responsible for inserting the baby wipe into Iris' throat.
Investigators found that "it would have been impossible for [her] to get her hand inside Iris’ mouth past her knuckle," and that “only an adult could have forced a wipe not only into Iris’ mouth, but all the way down her throat.”
Sheriff Eric Flowers addressed the media during a press conference, delivering a stark verdict on the investigation's findings.
“Our forensic team has determined that his claims that the 18-month-old child placed a wipe down the throat of this 2-month-old infant, we’ve proven that that’s not possible,” Flowers stated, adding, “He shoved that baby wipe down her throat to shut her up.”