Couple Arrested for Infant's Death, Father had Violent Past

Police have arrested a man and woman in connection to the death of their baby girl last week.

Aaron Rowe

Aaron Rowe, 23, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly murdering his 6-week-old daughter, Peyton Lynn Rowe. He is being held without bail in the Tulare County Jail. The baby’s mother, 21-year-old Courtney Rowe, was arrested on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, and is being held on $250,000 bail.

The baby died on the night of Nov. 12. Visalia emergency dispatchers received a report just after 11 p.m. of a baby not breathing at an apartment in the 4500 block of West Cypress Avenue. The baby was taken by ambulance to Kaweah Delta Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Courtney Rowe

An autopsy on Wednesday revealed that Peyton Rowe’s death was due to blunt force trauma. The autopsy also revealed that the baby had several old injuries indicating she had suffered from physical abuse hat occurred over several weeks.

Aaron and Courtney Rowe first told police that the baby had some medical problems. When questioned further by detectives, Aaron Rowe said he had fallen with his daughter. Detectives didn’t buy the story, but instead believed the baby’s death must have been a homicide because of the severity of her injuries.

Aaron Rowe had already been arrested on more than one occasion in the last several years. In July 2011, he was charged with one misdemeanor count of domestic violence and was sentenced to three months in jail. In 2010, Rowe pleaded no contest to a hit and run traffic accident, and the year before that he pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of unlawful sex with a minor. In 2008, he was charged with a misdemeanor count of street racing.

His wife, Courtney Rowe, was arrested in connection to their baby’s death because she failed to protect the child. She should have sought help, called law enforcement, and removed the baby from harm’s way, authorities said.

Read More:

Visalia Times Delta: Couple Arrested After The Death of Their Infant

Fresno Bee: Suspect in Visalia Baby’s Death has Violent Past

ABC30: Father in Visalia Infant Death has history of Domestic Violence