Insets: Belle and Donovan Winter (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area around Belle and Donovan Winter’s home in Merritt Island, Fla., where their son was killed (Google Maps).
Two Florida parents are facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing and killing their 2-month-old son, with cellphone records showing how they would text each other things like “Ugh this kid is killing me” and “I’m done with this … you already know what I’m going to do” while struggling with his bedtime routine, according to court documents.
Donovan Winter, 26, and Belle Winter, 23, are both charged with first-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse for their son’s 2021 death, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. Donovan was arrested on June 17, 2025, while Belle was taken into custody on Monday and extradited from Pennsylvania, where she moved after their son died, police said.
The sheriff’s office explained the arrest delay, saying the charges came after “an extremely thorough investigation,” including investigators extracting texts and cellphone records.
“These cases, as you know, they sometimes can take a long time when you’re dealing with a child abuse case such as this,” BCSO Public Information Officer Tod Goodyear told local NBC affiliate WESH. “You’re having to deal with medical evidence, the Department of Children and Families, child protection team, medical examiner and a lot of times you have more than one caretaker that may have had access to the child during its life.”
Deputies responded to a residence in Merritt Island in June 2021 and found the deceased 2-month-old boy “face down” in a bassinet with a pacifier in his mouth, according to Donovan Winter’s arrest affidavit. The child was taken to the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy determined that he had died from “multiple blunt-impact head injuries,” police said.
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Donovan Winter’s arrest affidavit shows that both parents struggled with the baby’s bedtime routine. “The investigation revealed Donovan and [Belle], both young, struggled with child’s bouts of inconsolable crying,” the affidavit said. “This was evidenced by text messages discovered during the consensual search of their cellular phones, wherein they each complained.”
Between March 31, 2021, and June 1, 2021, the pair allegedly exchanged texts about how they wanted to try to stop the crying. Donovan Winter allegedly made statements such as “I’m done” and “I can’t do it with this kid,” the affidavit says.
“I’m tired,” Donovan Winter allegedly texted Belle Winter, who was working at the time of the correspondence. “He’s screaming won’t shut up.”
Donovan Winter allegedly claimed in another message, “I’ll do what I normally do” and “easy asf,” according to the affidavit. “He will be sleeping 24/7 when you at work,” he allegedly said, per the affidavit. It’s unclear when the texts were sent.
In May 2025, authorities asked Belle and Donovan Winter to come in for a sworn interview. Both allegedly claimed they didn’t know what happened to their son. Belle Winter allegedly said that she took a 2-hour shower on the night the infant died after arriving home from work, then checked the baby to see if he was sleeping.
“When she turned the decedent over she saw the decedent’s eyes were purple and his face was ‘squished’ to one side,” Donovan’s affidavit says. “She further advised the decedent’s body was ‘very stiff.'”
The pair was asked if they ever shook the baby, with Belle Winter saying that she hadn’t and Donovan Winter allegedly saying he would move the child around to try and make him “happy” but not violently, according to the affidavit.
“Donovan Winter provided inconsistent details regarding how he tried to make the decedent ‘happy’ when he threw the decedent into the air, but failed to catch him on the way down,” the affidavit says. “He finally admitted to throwing the decedent into the air while he was standing and missed the catch. He advised the incident occurred approximately two weeks prior to the decedent being found deceased.”
Witnesses told cops in interviews that the child was “in good health with no injuries” from March 31, 2021, until his death on June 1, 2021. Images and video of the boy were found on one of the parents’ phones, showing him wearing the same clothes that morning, the affidavit says. Follow-up interviews were eventually ordered due to “denials and inconsistencies” that came from the parents, according to the affidavit.
Donovan Winter allegedly told investigators he thought Belle Winter’s shower was “long” and she had gone to the bathroom after “slamming” the door. A second door to the bathroom was also slammed, he claimed.
“Donovan Winter struggled with the decedent, as he was over-tired and fussy and [Belle] did not come out to help or assist,” the affidavit says. “Winter provided details of how he prepared the decedent for bed by rocking him while standing over the crib. He further stated he swayed the decedent back and forth and admitted he may have been a little rough as he didn’t know his own strength.”
Donovan Winter allegedly demonstrated the motion he made with the child, showing how he clutched him in a “vertical type hold as he jumped up and down,” according to cops. He allegedly recalled laying the baby “face down in the bassinet” with a pacifier in his mouth, which came out twice. Donovan Winter allegedly held the pacifier in place while he was face down, according to the affidavit.
“It should be noted that was the exact position decedent was found the following morning deceased,” the affidavit says. “He did not change the decedent’s diaper. He put a pacifier in the decedent’s mouth and put the baby down face first before he went to bed.”
Donovan Winter allegedly admitted that the child was “crying and hard to calm” during their bedtime routine. It wasn’t until he laid his son in the bassinet — face down while holding a pacifier in his mouth — that the baby was “no longer crying.”
Both Donovan and Belle Winter are being held at the Brevard County Jail without bond.
