Deceased child’s mother feared for their lives & had protective order

The mother of a 4-yr-old boy who died Christmas Eve is speaking out saying she had a protective order against her ex-husband that was active through Aug. 2023.

Isabel Stricker told Unfiltered with Kiran via a translator she feared for her and her son’s lives.

“He told her he was going to do something to her that would hurt her the most. He would say, ‘I’m going to hit you where it hurts the most’ every time he would get mad. She assumed he would do something to her physical, but she never thought it would be this bad,” said Isabel’s translator.

The little boy, Matias Stricker Abreu, was with his father, Jacob Stricker, on Dec. 24^th on the BREC Frenchtown Conservation Area trails. That’s when Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran said Jacob Stricker called 911 around 2:40 p.m. saying his son had gone missing.

Multiple firefighters, officers and deputies responded to the area searching for Matias. A firefighter spotted the little boy in the Amite River nearly an hour after the initial 911 call. The firefighter pulled the boy to the embankment where officials began working on him immediately.

Sources have said officials worked on Matias for 45 minutes. He was then rushed to a hospital and eventually transferred to Children’s Hospital, where he died shortly before Christmas day.

An autopsy on Dec. 27^th is pending further studies at this time to determine Matias’ cause of death and manner of death.

Jacob & Isabel were married five years and separated in 2021 after Isabel said she was a victim of domestic abuse, physical, emotional and mental abuse.

On April 13, 2020, Baton Rouge Police officers responded to the Strickers’ home. That’s when court documents said Jacob allegedly slapped Isabel in the face. Jacob was given a summons for domestic abuse battery. In Sept. 2020, he appeared in court and pleaded “not guilty.” Their trial date was set for Dec. 14, 2020.

However, Isabel asked to drop the charges. Studies show that this is something that happens often in domestic violence cases where the victim asks prosecutors to drop charges. In this case though, Isabel had not reconciled with Jacob. She had fled to another state and said “she was very fearful of Stricker and did not want to come back to Louisiana to testify at a trial as the defendant did not know her current whereabouts.”

It’s why the trial was continued to March 2021 and then again to July 19, 2021. Prosecutors refused to drop charges and told Isabel this would be the last continuance they would be able to get on the trial. It’s why Isabel returned to Louisiana and testified against Jacob. They had a trial and he was found guilty of domestic abuse battery.

The same date, a protective order was issued. Jacob was ordered not to abuse, harass, assault, stalk, follow, track, monitor or threaten Isabel. He could not go within 100 yards of Isabel or her home, could not contact her at all.

The same date though, a warrant was issued for Jacob’s arrest for violating the protective order. Officials responded after Isabel called in a disturbance where Jacob had shown up at the home despite the protective order given to him in court earlier the same day.

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Court documents show Jacob was at the front door and said it was barricaded closed so he said he knew Isabel was inside. When he was able to get the door open, he said he saw her running out the back door. He even told responding officials that he was aware of a protective order provided earlier in the day because he signed it. Court documents say Jacob “was also notified by an East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Deputy that his wife was at the residence and he would be in violation of the protective order if he shows up at the residence.” Despite it all, Jacob went to the home.

Isabel was in tears as she said via her translator that “She didn’t feel safe with Matias’s dad having their son. She was attempting full custody of her son and had a court date set for Jan. 5, 2023.”

Multiple sources have said Matias’ death is suspicious. At this time, no one is facing any charges. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation into Matias’ death. Their investigation is ongoing.