The man accused of killing his girlfriend’s baby has dropped all charges against him because prosecutors said he just wanted to “make love.”
William Jacobs, 22, was charged with the first-degree murder of 10-month-old Edward Hayes in May 2023 after the baby was found unresponsive in a motel room in Cañon City, near Colorado Springs.
Investigators alleged that Jacobs shook little Edward to death after the boy’s mother (Jacobs’ 21-year-old girlfriend, Brook Crawford) dropped him off with him while she went to work.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox21, Jacobs told investigators at the time that she went to change Edward’s diaper and that Edward “became stiff and started making gargling noises.”
He claimed he started shaking the baby and slapping his back to get him to breathe.
Edward died from his injuries when he was taken to hospital.
The arrest affidavit alleges Jacobs’ story kept changing during his interview with law enforcement, at one point admitting he shook and slapped the baby “a little harshly,” later saying he wasn’t mean.
An autopsy revealed that the 10-month-old child died from blunt head trauma.
But now, a year later, all charges have been dropped after Fremont County 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley made derogatory comments about the suspect to a news station.
Jacobs’ defense had filed a motion asking Fremont County District Court Judge Kaitlin Turner to dismiss the case, citing “outrageous conduct by the government” during a July 12, 2023 interview between Prosecutor Stanley and KRDO.
According to the motion obtained by the Cañon City Daily Record, Prosecutor Stanley, KRDO reporter Sean Rice and his cameraman attended the hearing of the case that day.
After the hearing, journalists approached Prosecutor Stanley to request an interview.
“Prosecutor Stanley agreed to an interview immediately after the setting conference, and Mr. Rice and the cameraman were escorted to the District Attorney’s Office at the Fremont County Courthouse. Portions of this interview first aired on news station KRDO the same day, July 12, 2023.”
During the meeting, the prosecutor made comments about Jacobs that his lawyers claimed were an attempt to “arm the press” against him and Crawford, his lawyers said.
“I’m going to be very frank here. She has zero investment in this child. Zero. She takes care of that baby so she can have sex. That’s it. And have a place to sleep,” Prosecutor Stanley told KRDO’s 13 Investigators. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, but honest to God, it is what it is.”
He also made comments about Crawford, who is also charged with child abuse resulting in bodily injury and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, CBS News reported.
Prosecutor Stanley later claimed he thought he was speaking “off the record.”
But the defense said the 29-minute raw interview footage showed he knew he was being recorded because he had a microphone attached and commented that he was being recorded, the Cañon City Daily Record reported.
KRDO reporters also filed statements stating that Prosecutor Stanley did not request to speak off the record.
In the court order handed down on Wednesday, the judge said the evidence showed Stanley “knew he was being recorded” during the call.
“Stanley knew, or reasonably should have known, that his on-the-record comments to reporter Rice about Mr. Jacobs and co-defendant Ms. Crawford would be disseminated through public communications and that they were likely to cause material harm. Criminal case,” Judge Turner wrote.
“Second, Prosecutor Stanley’s comments raised the possibility of increasing public condemnation of Mr. Jacobs.
“His comments included derogatory, sensational and inflammatory views about Mr. Jacobs’ character, trustworthiness, reputation and criminal record. Third, Prosecutor Stanley recognized that improper preliminary hearing and extrajudicial depositions were likely to materially prejudice the defendant’s fair trial rights.”
The judge dismissed all charges against Jacobs.
A similar motion to dismiss charges against Crawford because of Prosecutor Stanley’s comments was granted in April and is currently awaiting review before the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Prosecutor Stanley currently faces a disciplinary hearing on June 10 for comments he made regarding this case and Barry Morphew’s criminal case, according to public documents seen by KRDO.
Morphew was accused of killing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who disappeared on Mother’s Day 2020, before the charges were dropped.
He later filed a $15 billion lawsuit against Prosecutor Stanley and six other prosecutors, accusing them of “a political agenda to imprison Mr. Morphew in response to the media frenzy that the prosecutors themselves helped create.”