A man accused of killing his girlfriend’s baby had all charges against him dropped because prosecutors said he just wanted to “get laid.”
William Jacobs, 22, was charged with first degree murder of 10-month-old Edward Hayes after the baby was found unconscious in a motel room in Cañon City, near Colorado Springs, in May 2023.
Investigators alleged that Jacobs shook little Edward to death after the child’s mother – Jacobs’ girlfriend, 21-year-old Brook Crawford – left him in her care when she went to work.
At the time, Jacobs told investigators that he had gone to change Edward’s diaper when he “got stiff and started making gargling noises,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox21.
He claimed he began shaking and patting the baby’s back to try to get him to breathe.
Edward was rushed to hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The arrest affidavit alleges that Jacobs’ story continually changed during his interview with authorities, admitting at one point that he may have shaken and slapped the baby “kind of hard” before later saying he wasn’t rude.
An autopsy found the 10-month-old baby died from a traumatic brain injury.
But now, a year later, all charges have been dropped after Linda Stanley, Fremont County 11th Judicial District Attorney, made derogatory comments about the suspect to a news station.
Jacobs’ defense filed a motion asking Fremont County District Court Judge Kaitlin Turner to dismiss the case, citing “outrageous government conduct” during an interview between DA Stanley and KRDO on July 12, 2023.
That day, prosecutor Stanley, KRDO reporter Sean Rice and his cameraman attended a court hearing on the case, according to the motion obtained by the Cañon City Daily Record.
After the hearing, journalists approached prosecutor Stanley to request an interview.
“Prosecutor Stanley agreed to an interview shortly after the scenario conference, and Mr. Rice and the cameraman were escorted to the District Attorney’s Office inside the Fremont County Courthouse. Portions of this interview first aired on news station KRDO on the same day, July 12, 2023,” the court filing states.
During the interview, the prosecutor made comments about Jacobs that his public defenders claim were an attempt to “arm the press” against him and Crawford, his lawyers said.
“I’m going to be very direct here. He doesn’t invest anything in this child. Zero. He’s taking care of that baby so he can get laid. And that. And have a place to sleep,” said DA Stanley KRDO‘s 13 Investigates. “I’m sorry to be so frank, but honestly, that’s what’s happening.”
She also made comments about Crawford, who was also charged with child abuse causing injury and child abuse causing serious bodily injury in the case, CBS Reports.
Prosecutor Stanley later stated that she thought she was speaking “off the record.”
However, the defense said raw footage of the 29-minute interview indicated she knew she was being recorded as she had a microphone attached and made a comment about being recorded, the Cañon City Daily Record reported.
KRDO reporters also filed statements saying that Prosecutor Stanley did not ask to speak off the record.
In a court order Wednesday, the judge said the evidence showed Stanley “knew she was being recorded” during the interview.
“Stanley knew or should reasonably have known that his official comments to reporter Rice regarding Mr. Jacobs and co-defendant Ms. criminal proceedings,” Judge Turner wrote.
“Second, Prosecutor Stanley’s comments were imbued with a substantial likelihood of increasing the public conviction of Mr. Jacobs.
“His comments included his libelous, sensational and inflammatory opinions about Mr. Jacobs’ character, his credibility, his reputation and his criminal record. Third, Prosecutor Stanley realized that improper extrajudicial statements before trial would have a substantial likelihood of materially impairing the defendant’s rights to a fair trial.
The judge dismissed all charges against Jacobs.
A similar motion to dismiss charges against Crawford over prosecutor Stanley’s comments was granted in April and is currently pending review before the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Prosecutor Stanley now faces a disciplinary hearing on June 10 regarding this case, as well as comments she made about The Barry Morphew Criminal Caseaccording to public documents seen by KRDO.
Morphew was charged with the murder of his wife Suzanne Morphew – who went missing on Mother’s Day 2020 – before the charges were dropped.
He later filed a $15 billion lawsuit against DA Stanley and six other prosecutors accusing them of “a political agenda to arrest Mr. Morphew in response to a media frenzy that the prosecutors themselves helped create.”
