The father of a 6-month-old baby who died in 2022 is facing charges nearly four years later after a medical examiner determined the baby’s manner of death was homicide, court records show.
Prosecutors officially filed charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse against Robert Boesenberg, 30, of Hallandale Beach, on Wednesday in connection with the baby’s death in January 2022.
Boesenberg and his fiancee took their baby to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood on Jan. 1, 2022. The infant was “lifeless” and in cardiac arrest on arrival at the emergency room, a probable cause affidavit said. He was given naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose and is commonly known by the brand name Narcan, which brought back the baby’s heartbeat, but it was later determined the baby had not ingested any narcotics.
Initial exams showed the boy had “non-accidental head trauma, most likely caused by violent shaking,” the affidavit said. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and was pronounced dead two weeks later.
Boesenberg, while at the hospital the day he brought his son in, told investigators that the baby was in good health earlier that morning until about 11 a.m. when he heard “gurgling sounds” in the bedroom where the baby was sleeping, according to the affidavit. He saw his son spitting up, struggling to breathe and skin discoloration.
Boesenberg said he tried to call 911 but no one answered. The baby’s mother, who was at work, also tried to call 911 with no answer. The couple drove themselves to the hospital with the baby and his 1-year-old sister, the affidavit said.
The parents had received full custody of both of their children in late December 2021 after spending some time in foster care because of their parents’ substance abuse issues, according to the affidavit. The infant had been removed from their custody at birth.
A pediatric doctor told police within days of the baby being admitted to the hospital that he had bleeding in his brain, bleeding in the eyes and a thighbone fracture, “consistent with non-accidental abusive head trauma,” the affidavit said. He was not expected to survive.
The Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Jan. 18, 2022, and preliminarily determined the baby had head trauma.
On Sept. 4, the Hallandale Beach Police detective who investigated the case met with prosecutors and the doctor who performed the final autopsy, where the doctor said the baby had numerous injuries from blunt-force trauma, “including acceleration-deceleration forces with impact, being applied to the victim’s head and body,” the affidavit said. The doctor determined in his final autopsy that the baby died from complications of blunt head trauma and his manner of death was homicide.
Boesenberg was booked into the Broward Main Jail on Friday.
He and his fiancee officially lost custody of the older child in November 2022, according to court records.
