Bryan Vilcone
Oskaloosa police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation have charged an Oskaloosa man in the death of a child. DCI agent, Mike Motsinger, says Oskaloosa police were called to the Mahaska Health Partnership emergency room April 18th by medical officials who were treating a child.
“Upon arrival they discovered that the seven-week-old by the name of Raelynn Hart was receiving some treatment for some injuries. Upon discovering that, they then contacted the Division of Criminal Investigation for assistance in investigating the injuries to the child,” Motsinger says.
Motsinger says the investigation led to 24-year-old Bryan Vilcone, a friend of Hart’s mother who was watching the child. “Through the investigation, Mr. Vilcone was interviewed by agents and the Oskaloosa Police Department, and during that interview, Mr. Vilcone admitted to shaking the child on at least three separate occasions,” according to Motsinger.
He says the shaking was not accidental. “During the interview…he stated that the child had been crying, so he shook the child to try to get it to stop crying,” Motsinger says.
Raelynn Hart died three days after being taken in for medical care, and an initial autopsy showed she likely died from an abusive head injury. Motsinger says Vilcone was charged with first-degree murder.
Vilcone is being held in the Mahaska County Jail.
Photo courtesy of the Iowa DCI.