ORLANDO — A dad put his daughter in the bathtub and went back to playing video games, then he returned to find her face down in the water, Florida authorities said.
Joshua Ruiz-Martinez, 32, was arrested February 11 on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child, according to Osceola County records.
His arrest comes nearly 10 months after he called 911 from his home in St. Cloud to report his infant daughter had drowned, deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an arrest affidavit.
He told investigators he had put his daughter in the bath with water up to her stomach the evening of April 21, then he went to get a bottle and came back about three minutes later to find her face down, according to the report.
But investigators said records from his computer told a different story. His gaming activity showed he was “actively engaged” in his game during the time his daughter was in the bathtub, logging actions in the game at 5:27 p.m., 5:29 p.m., 5:33 p.m. and 5:35 p.m., deputies said.
He called 911 at 5:37, two minutes after his last move was recorded.
“This confirms Joshua was actively engaged in the game up until moments before discovering his daughter’s drowning,” deputies wrote.
The girl was pronounced dead at a hospital, and a medical examiner determined the incident was an accidental drowning.
Later that night, Ruiz-Martinez logged onto Discord and sent a message saying his daughter had drowned in a pool and added “never leave your kid with no one,” deputies said.
Ruiz-Martinez said he had never left his daughter unattended in the bath before and may have thought he put her in her crib, according to investigators. When they showed him the timestamps of his gameplay, he asked “I killed my daughter for a game? Please tell me I did not kill my daughter for a game,” according to the affidavit.
Ruiz-Martinez was the girl’s primary caretaker while his partner worked, according to the report.
St. Cloud is part of the Orlando metropolitan area.
By OLIVIA LLOYD/Miami Herald