Photo: Daily Mail
He married the woman a little over a year after the girl died.
By Emily Blackwood — Written on Aug 11, 2017
Sophia had only celebrated her first birthday when she died in the emergency room in January of 2016. Though her mother, Stephanie, told police the girl had a seizure while under the care of Jake Don Jensen, her mother's boyfriend, police believe she died because of the abuse he inflicted on her.
According to reports, Sophia's legs appeared to have been broken and were healing, and she also had injuries on her head and her eyes. Doctors said her injuries were “most consistent with severe child physical abuse.”
They also pointed out that Jake and Stephanie hadn't fully explained the cause of her injuries.
Sophia, who had cerebral palsy due to being born prematurely, had been healing from a ”very severe anoxic/hypoxic injury to her brain” and hemorrhages in both of her eyes, which appeared to happened a few days ago. A medical examiner determined that she died from seizures that were triggered by those injuries.
Jake, 29, was not the girl's father but looked after her while her mother worked nights. On Jan. 2, she reportedly had a seizure.
According to Jake, Sophia screamed and was grabbing her ear. When she picked up him, she clenched her hands and jaw, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Stephanie called the police, but by the time they arrived, her vital signs appeared to be normal. Sophia's mom declined a medical transport for her daughter and said she would take her to the hospital.
But by the time she did, it was too late.
Two days later, Jake was watching Sophia. She was sleeping, but when she would up, he went to get her a bottle. He first told police that after he gave her the bottle, her arms and legs went stiff and she made a gurgling sound. Then he gave another statement saying he found her unresponsive, apparently having a seizure.
Stephanie told police she ”had a feeling she should come home early” and arrived as Sophia was having the seizure. She said it was different from the one she had earlier.
The two took the girl to the hospital, but she never regained consciousness. Doctors withdrew life support when it was ”clear there was no brain activity” and Sophia died five minutes later.
After her daughter died, Stephanie took to Facebook and set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for Sophia's funeral costs. Later on, she asked for more money to pay Sophia's medical bills.
In March 2017, Jake and Stephanie got married, and on their registry in addition to household items, they asked their guests to help them fund a trip to Bora Bora for their honeymoon.
After police couldn't find any other explanation for Sophia's injuries and death, they decided to file charges against Jake.
in June, they welcomed their first child together. At their daughter's christening, prosecutors charged Jake with one count of child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony, for injuries the girl incurred in January 2016, and one count of child abuse, a second-degree felony, for alleged instances in November 2015.
So far, Stephanie has not been charged.