Florida – In a deeply disturbing case that left residents in Florida shocked, a 20-year-old father, identified as J. Golden, has entered a guilty plea in connection with the horrific act he committed that eventually led to the death of his 8-month-old son. Golden appeared in court this week and pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child, months after authorities charged him with killing his infant son by dropping him in the middle of the road and then running him over with his vehicle.
Golden’s plea deal, reached with prosecutors, resulted in the dismissal of a second charge of vehicular homicide. Sentencing is scheduled for November 13, when a judge will determine how long Golden will spend behind bars for the unimaginable death of his own child. The incident unfolded around 11 a.m. on January 25. According to the sheriff’s office, Golden, his son, and the child’s mother were driving together in a vehicle when a heated argument broke out. The mother, wanting to escape the argument, asked to get out of the vehicle. At that point, Golden allegedly responded by saying he “did not want to be responsible for the child.” Moments later, while the vehicle was stopped, he removed the infant from the vehicle and dropped him in the middle of the road. Then he drove off—running over the child in the process.
Witnesses were present and quickly realized the horror of what had happened. One woman driving behind the truck initially thought Golden had dropped “a bag of trash”, but she watched in horror as it “moved”—realizing too late that it was a baby. Golden “did not speed away,” the witness said, but continued driving as if unaware—or unconcerned—about the consequences. The mother, who had exited the vehicle before the incident, heard screams and turned around to see her baby lying in the road. Paramedics arrived and rushed the baby to the hospital, but the boy was pronounced dead soon after.
The gruesome scene left a deep scar on both sides of the family and the local community. A local barber working nearby ran out of his shop when he heard screaming. What he witnessed left a lasting impact. The child was bleeding, and he and others rushed to offer help to the mother. As a father himself, he found the scene especially difficult to process, recognizing how traumatic it would be for everyone involved, particularly when it concerns the life of a child. Both families, maternal and paternal, came together in their shared loss. The victim’s maternal grandmother described the boy as joyful, playful, and deeply loved. His paternal grandmother echoed the sentiment, saying both families were grieving together and had a long-standing bond.
Despite Golden’s guilty plea, numerous questions remain, including what prompted him to make such a fatal decision and the delicate balance between anger and recklessness that resulted in the death of an innocent child. The sheriff’s office vowed to pursue justice relentlessly. “We, with our partners at the State Attorney’s Office, will stop at nothing to get justice for the baby,” a department spokesperson said. As Golden awaits sentencing, a mother prepares for life without her son, and a community is left to wrestle with the haunting memory of a child abandoned in the road by the person meant to protect him most.
