LOCK HAVEN – The death penalty remains on the table for the Clinton County woman accused of killing her 9-year-old nephew and leaving him in a bathtub.
County Judge Craig P. Miller on Monday denied a motion to quash the notice of aggravating circumstance the prosecution is required to file to seek the death penalty.
But, he gave attorneys for Jamie Lynne Jackson the opportunity to seek a limited inquiry into whether there is sufficient evidence to support the notification.
The factors that District Attorney David Strouse cited were that the killing occurred while in the perpetration of a felony, it was committed by means of torture, and the victim – Anson Landon Mitchell Stover – was under the age of 12.
Addressing other issues in a defense omnibus pretrial motion, Miller ruled:
- Lock Haven police were justified entering the home where the body was found without a warrant because their intent was to provide aid. A warrant was obtained before a search was conducted.
- Statements that Jackson gave to police on two occasions will not be suppressed because she was not in custody and she signed a Miranda rights waiver form.
- The death penalty is constitutional.
There was testimony at Jackson’s preliminary hearing that Stover, whose body was found last Nov. 30, had injuries from head to toe.
A preliminary autopsy report listed two causes of death, including – blunt force injuries to the head and multiple blunt force injuries in general – city police Detective Richard Simpson testified.
Brain damage, burns caused by cigarettes and black eyes were among the injuries the detective cited. Stover weighed only 54 pounds, he said.
Jackson. 36, maintained in interviews she found her nephew Nov. 28 in his room with tape wrapped around him that she cut off and then bathed and dressed him, Simpson said. The autopsy did not reveal any tape or tape residue, he testified.
Stover did not respond when she placed him in the tub but Jackson claimed she thought he was faking because he had done that previously, Simpson said she told him.
The body was discovered when Officer Andrew Fisher went to Jackson’s apartment in the 600 block of East Bald Eagle Street after receiving a phone call from Jackson’s father who was traveling to Lock Haven from his home in New York.
Hugh Jackson said his daughter was hysterical saying she did not know what to do and threatened to kill herself if police showed up, the officer testified.
Stover was lying in a fetal position in the tub wearing clean dry clothes, Fisher said. He noticed bruises on the back of the boy’s head, he said.
Stover was one of six children living in the apartment but was the only boy, Simpson said.
Jackson had gained temporary custody three years ago of Stover and his three sisters when their mother died. The other two girls are Jackson’s.
Besides homicide, Jackson is charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, tampering with evidence, abuse of corpse and concealing the death of a child. She is jailed without bail.
Miller set jury selection for March 21, 2022.
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