Florida Father's 'Joke' Turns Deadly: The Tragic Tale Behind the Leafblower Incident

A Florida dad has been charged with murder, two years on from the tragic death of his infant son. James Westervelt, 38, was charged with first-degree murder on Thursday (July 30), after he thought it would be fun to use a leaf blower on his baby boy. The decision comes two years after his six-month-old died in hospital, as reported by WAFF48 . Police explained that the boy was mere months old when the dad allegedly blew air from the power tool towards the baby, for a joke. Following the incident, the infant boy was put on life support, as per Marion County court records filed by prosecutors. The child would die soon after, with doctors attributing the death to blunt head trauma, which was caused by Westervelt bouncing the child, as "shaken baby syndrome" was cited in filings. The father was charged with murder after the death of his infant son. Credit: Marion County Sheriff's Office Westervelt is charged with murder The Florida dad reportedly admitted to investigators that he used a leaf blower on his boy because he thought it was funny, leading to the child's death. Marion County Sheriff's Office was called to a location for an unresponsive infant back in August 2024, leading to his arrest. Westervelt is currently in custody in Marion County, with a court date set for September. As well as being charged with first-degree murder, the Florida man previously faced child abuse charges stemming from the fatal incident before the fresh charges. Videos surfaced of Westervelt with his son when he was younger, where he was filming himself using a leafblower on his baby's face, leading to deputies arresting him in the first place. Following the revelation of the baby's cause of death, it was considered a homicide and the father has been charged. Authorities said that Westervelt had more children living in his home. The man from Bellevue had experienced run-ins with the law in the past too, having been charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in May, according to court records. In relation to these charges, his next scheduled court date is on August 5 for a pretrial conference. Statement from Marion County Sheriff's Office Zack Moore, from the Marion County Sheriff's Office, spoke to local outlet WESH 2 News about the fresh charge, revealing how they managed to gather enough evidence to prove he had done it. He explained: "Eventually, once Westervelt was arrested in April of this year for child abuse on the same victim, they were able to interview him again while in jail, and it had been a couple years since he had provided his initial statement, and this time he provided enough contradicting evidence. "Basically, we worked with the state attorney’s office and determined there was enough to arrest him for murder." Featured image credit: Marion County Sheriff's Office