A Texas man has admitted to killing his 8-year-old daughter by making her repeatedly jump on a scorching hot trampoline as punishment, leading to her death from dehydration.
Daniel Schwarz, 48, ignored the blistering August heat in 2020 when he forced his adopted daughter, Jaylin Schwarz, to keep jumping outside their Odessa home, according to prosecutors. The trampoline’s surface reached approximately 110 degrees at the time.
Schwarz pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Friday and accepted an 18-year prison sentence as part of a plea deal. The Ector County District Attorney’s Office confirmed the agreement in a Facebook post, noting that his wife, Ashley Schwarz, had already been convicted of capital murder in May 2023.
“The case dates back to August 29, 2020, when law enforcement responded to a medical emergency involving an 8-year-old girl,” the DA’s office stated. “Investigators later discovered that Daniel and Ashley forced Jaylin to jump on a trampoline for an extended period without food or water. The surface temperature of the trampoline was approximately 110 degrees at the time.”
A Deadly Punishment
Authorities revealed that Jaylin was denied breakfast that day, and her parents told her she wouldn’t be allowed to eat at all until she finished jumping. She was also refused water unless she continued jumping.
Police responded to the couple’s home on Locust Avenue after receiving a medical call. Upon arrival, they found Jaylin unresponsive. Investigators later obtained a search warrant and measured the ground temperature, which registered at a staggering 150 degrees. An autopsy confirmed that Jaylin died of dehydration, and her death was ruled a homicide.
A Mother’s Heartbreak
Relatives told CBS affiliate KMGH in 2020 that Daniel and Ashley Schwarz were Jaylin’s legal guardians, not her biological parents. At the time of her death, they also had custody of Jaylin’s sister and were in the midst of a custody battle with Jaylin’s biological mother, Alysha Anderton.
After Jaylin’s tragic death, Anderton wrote on Facebook that her daughter’s funeral was the first time she had seen her in more than three years.
“I never got the chance to tell her how HARD I was trying to be in her life and I was SO SO close,” Anderton shared. “But I was too late. And all I can think about is her leaving this world not knowing how much I love her and how much I wanted her… A part of my soul has died, and I will never be the same ever again.”
