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Police: Florida man beat son, 12, left him in laundry room to die

PALM BAY, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of beating his 12-year-old son and leaving him in a family laundry room to die, authorities said.

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Jason Daniel Godleski, 33, of Palm Bay, was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and failure to report a death, according to Brevard County online court records.

According to the Palm Bay Police Department, Godleski contacted from a dispatch line in the lobby of the department and told them his son, Noah Godleski, was dead inside his Palm Bay home, WFTV reported.

According to an arrest affidavit, officers discovered the boy’s body inside the laundry room with evidence of trauma to his body. Officers said the boy appeared to have been dead for a “lengthy” period of time, the affidavit stated.

The affidavit said officers made contact with Godleski’s girlfriend, Samarial Dubose, who was in Connecticut with three other children.

Dubose told police that on Oct. 17, Noah Godleski had been “misbehaving,” WFTV reported. As punishment, Dubose said Jason Godleski locked the boy in the laundry room and left him there for several days, isolated from the rest of the family.

Dubose said that “days later,” she said Jason Godleski told her he was going to drive her and three other children to Connecticut, to “give her a break” from the boy, according to the arrest affidavit.

In a recorded call, Godleski told a family member that Noah was alive for a few days but dead when they left to drive north, WFTV reported.

Palm Bay police spoke to Jason Godleski’s mother, Cindy Godleski, on Tuesday, according to police records. According to the woman, her son said he woke up to Noah Godleski throwing objects at Dubose, an affidavit stated.

Cindy Godleski said her son told her that Noah Godleski “was hit too hard in the face and back of the head,” but he said the death was an accident, records show.

Jason Godleski told his mother that “there was no intent,” records show.

According to the arrest affidavit, Cindy Godleski told police that her son used Noah’s hands to scratch his own face so it would look like he had self-inflicted wounds.

Jason Godleski was in court Wednesday, and a judge ruled that he would be held without bail, according to court records. He was being held at the Brevard County Jail, according to online booking records.