Sir Stackhouse

**Sir Ameir Stackhouse** (May 28, 2014 - June 22, 2019) was a five-year-old boy who was murdered by his father, Travis Stackhouse Sr.

## Events

### Backstory

Sir Ameir Stackhouse lived with his parents, Travis Stackhouse and Macshell Davis, and four siblings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Macshell describes Sir as a quiet, happy little boy who loved sports and The Avengers.

Macshell met Travis when she was 17 years old and two became friends. They were friends for a long time before they became a couple. In 2013, the couple had their first child, a son called Travis Stackhouse Jr. Sir was born in 2014, the second child out of five. Sir and Travis Jr. were very close and became inseparable. The boys were often looked after by their grandfather, Macshell's father Mac, whilst Macshell and Travis Sr. worked.

Despite her busy work schedule and being the main earner in the household, Macshell spent as much time as possible with her five children, she was very much a mother first everything else second.

### Travis' Aggression

In 2018, Travis Sr. started getting involved in drugs, particularly cocaine. Macshell told him he cannot do drugs in the house with her children. The drug use made Travis's temper worse. Travis started using physical violence to control the children, with Macshell often telling him to stop being so heavy handed with the children. Mac started to notice that the boys didn't want to go home after a visit with their Grandfather and therefore Mac started to become suspicious.

### Murder

On the 21st June 2019, Sir was at home with his four siblings and parents. Travis had friends over with whom he was drinking in the garden whilst the children played in the house.

Travis Stackhouse went back into the house to discover that his kids had eaten some of his Cheesecake that he had been keeping in the fridge. Soon after, Travis alerts Macshell that Sir had fallen down the stairs. Macshell went to check on Sir and believed he was OK so she went back outside to socialise with their friends.

Around 6pm, the children's grandfather, Mac, came to collect Travis Jr. and Sir to take them to the park. Travis Sr. told Mac that Sir was unwell and could not go with him. Mac recalls seeing Sir on the couch asleep as he picked up Travis Jr.

Later that evening, Travis Sr. left to go to the bar with his friends and Macshell went into the house to go to sleep. Travis Sr. returned to the house around 2am and was met by a frantic Macshell running out the house towards him. She said she had gotten up to feed their baby and was unable to rouse Sir who she had believed was asleep on the couch. Macshell called 911 almost immediately. Sir was pronounced dead at 4:30 am but had been dead for several hours according to medical reports.

Travis Jr. had slept over at his Grandfather Mac's house. Later that morning, police contacted Mac and asked him to bring Travis Jr. to the hospital to make sure that he was alright. At the hospital, Mac found out that Sir had passed away.

### Investigation

Both Travis Sr. and Macshell initially told police that Sir had fallen down the stairs. However, medical reports identified multiple injuries; including to his face, chest and back. The medical examiner concluded that the injuries to Sir's body were consistent with abuse. Consequently, both Travis Sr. and Macshell were arrested.

Macshell was interviewed by the police and admitted that Travis Sr. would regularly violently discipline the children and that she had tried to stop him several times. She told the police that whilst she was outside socialising with their friends, Travis Sr. told her about an incident with the kids and his cheesecake. She recalls he was angry that the children had eaten the cheesecake but that she promised to buy him another one and they all laughed about it.

Travis Sr. also said that Sir had fallen down the stairs so Macshell went into the house to check on him. She recalled to the police that Sir was sitting on the couch and that she thought he was OK. Later that evening, she saw that Sir was still on the couch and thought he had fallen asleep. She decided not to disturb him and went to bed herself.

Macshell described waking up to feed the baby at 2am and noticing Sir still laying on the couch with vomit on his face. She went into the bathroom to get a towel to try and wipe Sir's face when she noticed he was not breathing.

Travis Sr. initially maintained his story that Sir had fallen down the stairs having been playing with Travis Jr. on the upstairs landing. Travis Sr. claimed to have heard Sir hit many steps on the way down but that following the fall Sir had told his father he was OK and went back upstairs to continue playing with his brother. Travis Sr. said that later on that evening, Sir was laying on the couch and was showing signs of being unwell, throwing up and walking slowly.

Travis Jr. was also interviewed by the police. He indicated that his father had punched Sir in the stomach and the back after being mad at him about the cheesecake. Travis Jr. also stated that Travis Sr. had punched him in the face too. This prompted Travis Sr. to admit to spanking his sons but that it was not hard and was not a punch. Police told Travis Sr. that Sir's cause of death was blunt force trauma. In response to this, Travis Sr. says it was six-year-old Travis Jr. who "beat up" Sir.

Eventually, Travis Sr. admitted to punching Sir in the stomach after discovering him and Travis Jr. eating his cheesecake. He also admitted to hitting Sir again, when he was injured on the floor, purposefully using the back of his hand which he knew would hurt as he had a metal rod implanted there after a previous injury.

### Aftermath

Macshell was told about Travis Sr.'s confession and she was released without charge.

Travis Sr. was charged with first degree murder and taken to trial. He was described as very cocky in court and seemed to believe he would not be found guilty despite his confession and medical evidence.

On the 3rd May 2021, Travis Stackhouse Sr. stood trial for his son's murder. He refused a plea deal of reduced prison time in exchange for pleading guilty and so the not guilty trial went ahead.

Travis Sr.'s police interview confession was played in court and Travis just broke down. Travis Stackhouse Sr. agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree reckless homicide which carried a lesser sentence.

Travis Stackhouse Sr. was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison; 15 years for second-degree reckless homicide, 3 years for child neglect and 2 years for child abuse.

## News

*For news articles on Sir Stackhouse, see here.*

## In popular media

### Television

* Deadliest Mums and Dads - *A Father's Fury* (23 April 2022)