ST. LOUIS, MO – A Missouri man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for the death of his 4-year-old son after previously regaining custody of the child despite a violent criminal history involving the same boy.
On Thursday, St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Kristine A. Kerr handed down the sentence against Blake Dopirak, 27, who pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. The case centered on the tragic death of Zaydian Dopirak, who died in January 2022 after suffering fatal head trauma.
Emergency responders arrived at the family’s Manchester home on the morning of Jan. 2, 2022, after Dopirak called 911 to report that his son had stopped breathing. The boy was rushed to a local hospital and died the next day.
An autopsy revealed Zaydian’s death was a homicide caused by non-accidental closed head trauma. Investigators learned that Dopirak was the only adult present with the child at the time he became unresponsive.
Records show that this was not the first time Zaydian had suffered serious abuse. Authorities noted that in 2018, when the child was just five weeks old, Dopirak inflicted injuries so severe that the infant was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury. This earlier abuse resulted in Zaydian being removed from Dopirak’s care and placed with foster parents for several years.
According to people familiar with the case, child welfare advocates and health experts raised repeated concerns about the risks associated with returning Zaydian to his biological father. Testimony from a social worker, a pediatrician, and a court-appointed child advocate warned that reunification could endanger the boy’s life, but the child was ultimately returned to Dopirak’s custody.
The foster family that had cared for Zaydian following his first injuries expressed shock and deep concern over the decision to return him. They said they had presented authorities and the court with multiple red flags in hopes of protecting the child.
Following Dopirak’s guilty plea and sentencing, questions remain about the circumstances that allowed Zaydian to be placed back with his father despite the prior history of violence.
Child welfare officials have not publicly commented on the case since the sentencing, and the details of the reunification process remain under review.
Dopirak will serve his sentence in a Missouri state correctional facility. As part of the plea agreement, no additional charges are pending in connection with Zaydian’s death.
Family members and child welfare advocates continue to call for deeper examinations into foster care procedures and measures intended to safeguard vulnerable children, reflecting on a tragedy they believe could have been avoided.