LILLIANA JEAN SUTHERLAND - 5 Months - Santa Rosa (Pensacola Panhandle) FL

The face of an infant girl found dead in her crib Friday morning was
covered in bruises, according to a report from the Santa Rosa County
Sheriff’s Office.Lilliana Jean Sutherland, who was born
Feb. 10, was not breathing when she was found by her parents about 8
a.m. Friday, according to Sgt. Scott Haines, a Sheriff’s Office
spokesman. First responders determined that Lilliana was dead. Her body
was taken to the medical examiner for an autopsy.
The
autopsy determined the infant was the victim of a homicide, Haines said.
Her death marks the first homicide investigated by the Santa Rosa
Sheriff’s Office in 2011.
No arrest has been made.
Lilliana
lived with her parents, Daniel Duane Sutherland, 37, and Melinda Marie
Novotny, 32, in a mobile home in the 5800 block of Birtley Lane, north
of Milton.
The only other person at the home was a toddler —
who is also Novotny’s child — who is younger than 2, Haines said.
Haines didn’t know whether Sutherland is that child’s father.
“That child has since been placed out of the home by the state pending the investigation,” he said.
Deputies
arrived at the home Friday morning shortly after Lilliana had been
pronounced dead. Novotny was holding the lifeless infant in her arms and
crying.
“Daniel appeared nervous when I initially met with
him and Melinda,” an officer wrote in the offense report. “He was
shaking and requested a drink of soda. He later vomited in the front
yard, and continued to dry heave for several minutes.”
The officer observed bruising under Lilliana’s chin, along her jaw line, on her face, on her nose and on an eyelid.
Novotny
told deputies that she had worked until about 10:30 p.m. Thursday at
her job at Winn Dixie in Milton. Sutherland had babysat Lilliana and the
other child on Thursday.
When she got home and tried to feed Lilliana, the baby was crying and fussy.
Novotny
gave the baby some pain medicine, a colic tablet and she tried to clear
the baby’s nose, which turned out to be not clogged.
She put the baby down for the night at about 1:30 or 2 a.m., she said. She turned on the humidifier before going to bed.
At about 6:30 a.m., Lilliana was still fussy, kicking her legs, the report said.
Novotny was awakened again at about 8 a.m. with Sutherland yelling at her to call 911.
Sutherland
said he had discovered Lilliana in the crib, with brown film on her
mouth. When he touched her check, he noticed she felt cold. He picked
her up and noticed that she was limp and motionless.
“From
the time the baby was placed in the crib at night until the time the
baby was found deceased in the morning, the parents were the only two
custodians present,” Haines said.
Investigators continue to interview Sutherland and Novotny.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/110727012/Milton-baby-murdered?odyssey=nav|head