Jury adjourns for day in murder trial of Toledo mom accused of killing 6-month-old son

4/16/2014

After deliberating for about 90 minutes today, a jury deciding the fate of a Toledo woman charged in the death of her 6-month-old son decided to go home and resume deliberations Thursday morning.

Amanda Bacon, 26, of 504 W. Alexis Rd., is charged with aggravated murder, murder, and endangering children in the Dec. 18, 2012 death of Avery Glynn Bacon, who suffered at least two “catastrophic” injuries to his skull two days earlier.

Jurors listened to closing arguments this morning before beginning to deliberate about 2 p.m.

After presenting four questions to the court about 3:30 p.m., the jury foreman told Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Frederick McDonald the panel would like to return at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Prosecutors allege Ms. Bacon bashed her son’s head against a hard surface on the evening of Dec. 16, 2012 out of frustration over being alone with a colicky baby, without a phone or car. On the night he was injured, she did not seek medical care for her son, they contend, until she’d gone to the Happy Day Motel just over the state line in Michigan with a customer who paid her $60 for sex.

“The state of Ohio would you like you to believe that because Amanda Bacon chose to be a prostitute she was a bad mother, and because she was a bad mother she murdered her youngest son,” defense attorney Jane Roman told the jury in closing arguments this morning.

Ms. Roman said Ms. Bacon did not inflict the injuries that led to her son’s death, that Toledo police decided early on that she was responsible and ignored evidence that pointed to the real killer: Frank Jones, the man with whom she was living at the time.

“The state, as you can see in the course of the week, wants you to rely on drama and emotion and not the facts that are before you,” Ms. Roman said.

Frank Spryszak, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said in his closing argument that the jury need only look at three things to be convinced Ms. Bacon is the one who killed her son: all of the lies she told, the timeline of events that night which are backed up by cell phone records and other evidence, and “her acts and inaction on the night in question.”

Mr. Spryszak said Ms. Bacon inflicted the fatal injuries before Mr. Jones arrived home about 8:30 p.m. then quickly looked for a way to get out of the apartment and leave Avery with him to make him her scapegoat. She called a man who had previously hired her for sex 14 times until she finally reached him and arranged for him to pick her up about 10:30 p.m. She sent text messages to others about Avery’s condition while testifying on the stand Tuesday that she did not know he was seriously hurt when she left the apartment, he said.

“Why does she leave her son in the care of the man who she alleges hurt her son while she goes out and has sex for $60?” Mr. Spryszsak asked. “She does that because she’s trying to put Frank Jones in the position to be the fall guy.”