A Springfield woman and her ex-husband have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of her 2-month-old daughter, after investigators said the infant suffered severe burns during a bath and was not taken for medical care before she was found not breathing the next day.
The charges against Stephanie Hernandez, 29, and Jonathan Gaona, 33, focus on what police and prosecutors described as a series of decisions and actions inside a home shared with several children, including an alleged scalding bath, later physical abuse, and a refusal to seek emergency treatment as the baby’s condition worsened. Investigators said a medical examiner ruled the child’s death a homicide, citing complications from thermal burns with contributing factors that included blunt force head injuries, acute pneumonia and methamphetamine toxicity. The case has drawn attention in part because authorities said Hernandez later started an online fundraiser seeking money for funeral costs.
Police were called to the home on Feb. 11, 2025, on a report of an infant who was not breathing and had blue lips, according to court documents described in multiple reports. Responding officers and medical personnel found the baby with extensive burn-like injuries and took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, authorities said. The child was identified in court summaries and local reporting as Jaylynn. The investigation unfolded over the following year as detectives reviewed statements from adults in the home, medical findings, and what officers said they observed at the scene.
According to investigators’ accounts, Gaona was caring for Jaylynn while Hernandez worked a night shift and multiple other children were in the house. Police said Gaona told detectives he placed the baby in a bathtub, turned on the hot water, became distracted by other children, and then heard the infant scream. Authorities said he described the event as accidental, but investigators later alleged he did not treat it as an emergency. Police said Gaona told detectives he put the baby back in her crib after the bath and did not immediately seek medical attention, despite what officers later described as severe injury.
As time passed, investigators said, Gaona noticed signs that the baby’s skin was peeling and that the infant was in pain. Police said he admitted he had not changed her for roughly “half a day” and that he believed he could treat the burns at home. Detectives said he told them he applied cream and later baby powder to the baby’s skin, describing the idea as a way to make the treatment harden “like a turtle.” Authorities said he also searched online for information using a phrase such as “what to do for baby burns.” A responding officer later told investigators the baby’s skin appeared to be peeling when authorities arrived, according to a television report summarizing court documents.
Investigators also said Gaona admitted to physically abusing the infant after the bath. In accounts of a probable-cause statement, detectives said Gaona told them he grabbed the baby by the ears and shook her head back and forth because he felt overwhelmed and stressed by the crying and the demands of caring for multiple children. Police said he characterized his own actions in emotional terms during interviews. Authorities have not publicly detailed how they believe those admitted actions correspond to the child’s head injuries identified later by the medical examiner, and investigators have not released a full timeline showing when they believe each injury occurred.
When Hernandez returned home, investigators said, she did not seek emergency care for the infant. Police said Hernandez minimized the injuries and refused to take the baby to a hospital, instead treating redness with cornstarch. Investigators said a woman who was staying at the home urged medical care and tried to take the baby for treatment, but was repeatedly told not to by both adults. That woman eventually called 911 anyway, authorities said. In statements summarized in reporting, Hernandez told investigators she was afraid the incident would cause her to lose her children.
Officials have not publicly said what evidence they have beyond statements from the adults and the medical examiner’s findings, including whether investigators recovered a thermometer reading from a water heater, a temperature measurement of bath water, or video or digital records that fix the timing more precisely. The home’s other children became part of the investigation as well. A local news outlet reported that five other children in the home tested positive for methamphetamine exposure. A separate report summarizing court documents said some children tested positive for cannabinoids. Investigators said Hernandez and Gaona refused drug testing during the investigation, according to accounts of the case.
The medical examiner’s conclusions set the direction for criminal charges. Investigators said Jaylynn’s cause of death was complications of thermal burns, with blunt force head injuries, acute pneumonia and methamphetamine toxicity listed as contributing factors. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, authorities said. Prosecutors have not publicly explained in detail how they plan to prove the chain of causation between the burns, the other injuries and the drug toxicity, or whether they will argue that any one factor was independently fatal. Those issues are expected to be central as the case moves into court hearings and, if it proceeds, trial preparation.
Hernandez and Gaona were charged in Greene County with second-degree murder and abuse or neglect of a child, according to police and court summaries. Some reporting described additional child-abuse counts for Gaona, but authorities’ public statements emphasized the murder allegation and child-endangerment-related charges tied to Jaylynn’s death. Both defendants entered not guilty pleas in early proceedings, according to reporting that cited court appearances in February 2026.
The case also drew attention because of actions taken after the infant died. Authorities and news reports said Hernandez created a GoFundMe page seeking donations for funeral expenses. The fundraiser described her as a mother of six and referenced the death of her “2 1/2 month old baby,” according to reporting that summarized the page. News accounts said the campaign raised about $200 toward a $5,000 goal before the recent wave of publicity around the criminal charges. Investigators have not alleged that the fundraiser itself was a separate crime, but prosecutors and police highlighted it in public summaries as part of the broader narrative around the family’s response after the death.
In interviews described in court summaries, investigators said Gaona and Hernandez were divorced but continued living in the same residence. Authorities said Gaona was not Jaylynn’s biological father and had been raising her while Hernandez had a relationship with another man who investigators said was the infant’s father. Police have not publicly said whether that man is a witness in the case or whether he has been questioned as part of the investigation, beyond references to the household arrangement in court accounts.
Legal proceedings were moving quickly in late February 2026. Reporting on the case said the pair were ordered held without bond on Feb. 20, 2026, as the charges were announced. Bond review hearings were scheduled for March 11, 2026, according to accounts of court calendars. Prosecutors have not publicly described whether they intend to seek additional charges related to alleged drug exposure in the home, or whether the case file could expand based on evidence gathered from phones, internet searches, and medical records.
For now, the prosecution’s public outline remains centered on a short set of allegations: a bath with dangerously hot water, a delayed and inadequate response to visible injury, admitted physical handling of an infant in distress, and a refusal to seek emergency care until another adult intervened. Defense attorneys, if they contest the charges, are expected to scrutinize timelines, medical causation, and what each defendant knew at each point. The case’s next milestone is the March 11 bond review as prosecutors continue assembling evidence that they say shows criminal responsibility for Jaylynn’s death.
Author note: Last updated February 26, 2026.