A Milwaukee father punched and killed his 5-year-old son because the boy ate a piece of his cheesecake, prosecutors say.

Travis Stackhouse, 29, told police he punched his son in the stomach Friday because he was upset three of his children were eating the cheesecake he’d gotten for Father’s Day, according to a criminal complaint. Stackhouse told police he only had one piece.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Stackhouse with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of his son. He is held on $25,000 bond, according to the Milwaukee County Jail website. He faces up to 60 years in prison, if convicted.

Paramedics arrived about 2 a.m. Saturday at the home in the 2600 block of West Ruby Avenue and pronounced the boy dead after CPR did not revive him. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he suffered a ruptured stomach, bruised kidneys and a torn adrenal gland. He died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen.

Stackhouse also told police he hit the child’s face with the back of his hand and that he had a metal rod in his hand that would make punches painful.

After Stackhouse became angry about the cheesecake, he left home, prosecutors say. He went to a bar with friends and returned home around 2 a.m., at which time his girlfriend and mother of the boy called 911.

Stackhouse originally told police the child was injured because he fell down the stairs, according to the complaint. Paramedics didn’t think his injuries were consistent with a fall, and the boy's 6-year-old brother told police he did not fall down the stairs.

They noticed bruising around his eyes, a cut to the lower lip and a laceration to the sternum.

When police interviewed Stackhouse, he did not know the birth dates for any of the five children he shared with his girlfriend, nor could he spell their names, the complaint states.

Stackhouse also told police that his girlfriend often warned him not to hit the children so hard, according to the complaint.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.