Dad who 'crushed' 4-year-old son's skull 'by hand' sentenced for boy's death

A 27-year-old begetter successful Missouri volition walk respective decades down bars for sidesplitting his 4-year-old child, of whom helium had lone precocious regained custody aft having antecedently "crushed" the then-newborn's caput with his bare hands.

St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Kristine A. Kerr connected Thursday ordered Blake Dopirak to serve 24 years successful a authorities correctional installation for the 2022 slaying of young Zaydian Dopirak, records reviewed by Law&Crime show

According to tribunal records, Dopirak earlier this period agreed to plead blameworthy to 1 number of endangering the payment of a kid resulting successful decease successful transportation with his son's horrific death.

Emergency aesculapian unit and officers with the St. Louis Police Department astatine astir 8 a.m. connected Jan . 2, 2022, responded to a telephone regarding an unresponsive kid astatine a residence successful the 1600 artifact of Huntington Hill Drive successful Manchester, St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK reported. Blake Dopirak reportedly called 911 and told the exigency dispatcher that his lad had abruptly stopped breathing.

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Upon arriving astatine the scene, archetypal responders rushed the lad to a section infirmary for treatment. He was pronounced dormant 1 time aft arriving astatine the facility.

A consequent autopsy reportedly determined that the boy's mode of decease was a homicide and the origin of decease was "non-accidental closed caput trauma." Court documents reportedly authorities Blake Dopirak confirmed to constabulary that helium was the sole big with the kid astatine the clip that his lad became unresponsive.

Authorities noted it was not the archetypal clip Zaydian had been critically injured. In 2018 — erstwhile helium was lone 5 weeks aged — the lad had besides been hospitalized owed to carnal maltreatment astatine the hands of his father, resulting successful the lad being placed successful the attraction of a foster family.

In an interview with St. Louis Fox affiliate KTVI, Zaydian's foster parents said they took custody of him aft helium was severely injured by Blake Dopirak.

According to the report, Zaydian was placed successful the attraction of the foster parents erstwhile the lad was astir 4 months aged due to the fact that astir 5 weeks aft his birth, the newborn suffered a "non-accidental traumatic encephalon injury" from maltreatment by his father. One of the foster parents told the presumption that Zaydian's skull had been "crushed by hand."

The foster parents besides heavy criticized the authorities for allowing the kid to beryllium returned to the attraction of his father. They told KTVI that they had highlighted galore reasons wherefore doing truthful would enactment Zaydian successful danger, including providing grounds from a societal worker, a pediatrician, and a guardian advertisement litem (a idiosyncratic appointed by a tribunal to correspond the champion interests of a kid during ineligible proceedings) astir Blake Dopirak.

"When you person truthful galore radical telling you that if this kid is returned home, helium volition beryllium killed, you request to perceive to that," Zaydian's foster parent told the station. "We were shocked erstwhile the justice said she was going to bash a proceedings reunification."