Two children in the home told investigators they witnessed Hester shaking the infant on multiple occasions. One child demonstrated the motion, describing forceful shaking while the baby cried.<\/p>\n
What we don’t know:<\/p>\n
Authorities have not publicly detailed a precise timeline for when the injuries occurred, though investigators say the abuse likely happened over multiple incidents.<\/p>\n
It also remains unclear whether additional charges will be filed or if other individuals could face scrutiny related to supervision or reporting.<\/p>\n
What they’re saying:<\/p>\n
One child told investigators Hester would become angry when the baby cried, yelling phrases such as “why are you crying” and “boys don\u2019t cry,” while shaking him.<\/p>\n
A medical reviewer concluded the injuries were consistent with “acceleration-deceleration forces,” often associated with violent shaking.<\/p>\n
SIGN-UP FOR FOX 35’S BREAKING NEWS, DAILY NEWS NEWSLETTERS<\/a><\/p>\n Hester and the child\u2019s mother told investigators the child\u2019s symptoms began after a minor incident in which the baby bumped his head on a bed frame. They said vomiting followed in the days after.<\/p>\n Credit: Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. <\/p>\n The child’s mother denied any physical abuse in the home and said she did not believe Hester would harm the children.<\/p>\n Timeline:<\/p>\n Authorities say the case began in mid-February when the infant began vomiting and showing signs of distress. The child was initially treated and released from a hospital, but symptoms worsened over the following days.<\/p>\n On Feb. 20, investigators were called after the child was admitted to a hospital in critical condition and underwent surgery for brain bleeding. Detectives then conducted multiple interviews with family members and children in the home.<\/p>\n A later medical review concluded the injuries were consistent with abuse.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n Anthony Hester is charged with aggravated child abuse for allegedly shaking his seven-month-old son. This charge stems from forensic interviews with witnesses and medical evidence showing the infant suffered bilateral brain bleeds while in Hester’s sole care.<\/p>\n The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Voluia County Sheriff’s Office.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Volusia County News<\/a>DeLand<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. – Authorities say a Florida man is accused of abusing a 7-month-old infant, leaving the child…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[630,2651,47,115,139,141,140,628,2261],"class_list":{"0":"post-240075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-crime-publicsafety","9":"tag-deland","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-orlando-headlines","14":"tag-orlando-news","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-volusia-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/wofl-anthony-hester.jpg\")
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