The Akron Legal News

Murder conviction upheld for man who killed fiance's infant son

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: October 2, 2013

The 12th District Court of Appeals this week said circumstantial evidence was enough to convict a man of the murder of his fiancé’s infant son.

The three-judge appellate panel rejected Steven Haley’s argument that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for murder and child endangerment and sustained the Butler County Court of Common Pleas’ ruling.

Haley was indicted on one count of felony murder and one count of child endangering in April 2012.

After a two-day bench trial, the trial court found him guilty and merged his convictions for sentencing.

Haley was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and appealed his conviction.

“In his single assignment of error, Haley argues the state failed to provide sufficient evidence to support his felony murder conviction, a charge which was predicated on finding him guilty of child endangering,” 12th District Judge Stephen Powell wrote for the court.

Prior to reviewing the evidence, the appellate judges stated that “a conviction based on purely circumstantial evidence is no less sound than a conviction based on direct evidence.”

They further noted that many child endangering convictions are based on circumstantial evidence when the accused adult has been left alone with the child.

At trial, Haley’s fiancé, Adrienne Wesley, testified that she left her infant son, James, with Haley on the night in question while she went to work as a state-tested nurse’s aide. She said when she left, around 3 p.m., James seemed normal.

After Wesley left, her friend Kim Anderson arrived at the house with her two children. She also said James seemed normal throughout the course of the evening and was either crying or sleeping.

Wesley stated that she went home for her lunch break around 7:30 that evening and again, found her son to be “perfectly fine, fussy, ready to wake up because he heard me.”

She used her cell phone to take a video of James at that time and the video supported her testimony that he was fine and had no noticeable marks on his face.

Wesley later called Haley around 11 p.m. to tell him that she would be working a double shift.

At that time, Anderson decided to leave and stated that James was crying “like he normally does, just a regular cry.”

Jayden Bell, Wesley’s 9-year-old son, testified that he woke up in the middle of night and heard James crying.

The boy went into his mother’s room and saw Haley bouncing James on his knee and said the baby looked fine and was crying less.

When Wesley called Haley at 3 a.m. he told her James had been crying but was “done crying and now he was just gasping,” according to the facts of the case.

Wesley decided to take a lunch break to check on her son and when she got home Haley told her James had just calmed down and gone to sleep, asking her not to wake him.

However, Wesley told the court she heard James gasping and turned on a light to check on him.

She found the baby wasn’t breathing, had only a slight pulse and had a gray-toned face. Wesley told Haley to call 911 while she started CPR.

The state presented evidence from the responding paramedics that they observed a “red mark bruise” over James’ right eye. The child was rushed to the hospital and died there two days later.

An autopsy was performed and Jennifer Schott of the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office testified during the two-day trial.

She stated that James died as a result of numerous blunt impacts to the head and neck that caused severe hemorrhaging to the spinal cord, retinas, and swelling of the brain.

She explained the there were at least 11 impacts that would have been “fairly immediately symptomatic.”

“After a thorough review of the record, we find no error in the trial court’s findings the child’s injuries occurred during the early morning hours when entrusted solely to Haley’s care,” Judge Powell stated.

Haley argued that the trial court could not have ruled out other adults or children as the offenders.

The judges, however, found that Schott testified that the injuries would have required significant force and could not have been caused by impacts from being tossed in the air, bumped against the wooden edges of his crib, or playing with other small children.

An expert from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital also testified that James’ injuries were more consistent with a car accident than with playing with children.

Finally, Haley contended that Wesley could have caused the injuries when she performed CPR.

Again, the appellate judges disagreed. They found Schott testified that ribs can be cracked during CPR but it was the back of James’ rib that was injured and, therefore, not likely to happen during CPR.

“Accordingly, Haley’s single assignment of error is overruled.”

Presiding Judge Robert Hendrickson and Judge Robert Ringland concurred.

The case is cited State v. Haley, 2013-Ohio-4123.

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