ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Dekari Castell, who in 2017 admitted he fatally struck his 5-month-old daughter to quiet her during Hurricane Irma, was sentenced to decades in prison earlier this month in Orange County court.
According to Castell’s arrest affidavit, the girl — who was named Kali — was located unresponsive by her mother on Sept. 13, 2017, in an Orlando home where she and Castell were taking shelter from the storm. Kali’s mother called 911 and fire officials instructed her to perform ultimately unsuccessful CPR.
Kali was placed on life support at Arnold Palmer Hospital and was pronounced dead the next morning, the affidavit shows.
Following Kali’s arrival at the hospital, pediatric care staff alerted the Orlando Police Department, which in conjunction with the Florida Department of Children and Families learned that Castell’s son had been hospitalized a year prior when only weeks old due to a leg fracture. At the time, authorities did not have probable cause to recommend child abuse charges against Castell, who said that the boy had begun to slip from his grasp and was caught by the leg.
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A officer suspecting Kali may have been a victim of child abuse urged Castell’s mother to have him provide a truthful statement. While he denied at the hospital that Kali had been dropped, Castell’s tone changed in a phone call after his mother became involved, now telling police that Kali, too, had slipped from his grasp, this time hitting the floor. However, police said that this was another lie.
After an autopsy found that Kali’s skull was fractured in a way indicating a possible strike, Orlando police questioned Castell again, this time hearing him say, “I didn’t squeeze her head but I punched it” as he explained he was highly stressed due to being without power in the hurricane and how his daughter wouldn’t stop crying.
Castell even replicated his actions, striking a table twice with his hand, and he was placed under arrest to face a charge of aggravated child abuse.
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Castell, now 27, has since pleaded nolo contendere to a count of second-degree murder, and was sentenced June 5 to 35 years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation, court records show.
He was allowed a total of five years and 255 days as credit for time served.
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