HAMILTON, Ohio (WKRC) - The jury deliberated for just under two hours in the trial of Michael Maloney before finding him guilty. Maloney threw hot oil on a Hamilton woman, Jayla Witt, and her then-17-month-old son, Tobias, while they were sleeping.
After four days of trial and showing hours of evidence to jurors, including graphic photos of burns to both Jayla and her baby boy, photos of burnt bedding, wet floors, the saucepan left on Jayla’s bed with remnants of oil in it, as well as video of Maloney buying the vegetable oil, a jury found him guilty on all charges.
Friday began with closing arguments from both the prosecution and defense. Assistant Prosecutor Michael Hon began by going over the charges Maloney faces and restating the evidence to support those charges.
During a second interview, when Maloney was questioned by a detective, he claimed the incident was an accident.
"There is no rational reason to take scorching hot vegetable oil to the second floor of a house," said Hon.
Hon said to jurors if it was an accident, Maloney wouldn’t have panicked and left the morning of the incident, nor would Maloney have continued to change his story.
During the defense’s closing arguments, Ched Peck brought up how Jayla testified she was able to recall an unknown man from her room that morning. Peck told the jury that Jayla and Maloney had daily contact for a couple of weeks before the incident, questioning why Jayla didn't immediately identify Maloney as her attacker.
Peck also questioned the surveillance video saying there are "gaps" and "missing footsteps" of Maloney on tape.
“The investigation was sloppy in the beginning. Never a thorough walkthrough, items never secured. It continued with that sloppy approach all the way throughout,” Peck said.
“He goes up to Kroger, he walks into the Kroger store, goes directly to where the vegetable oil is, picks up a bottle of vegetable oil, pays cash for it. What didn’t he buy there? It’s his lack of action. He didn’t buy any eggs. He didn’t buy any pancake mix. He didn’t buy any bacon. He didn’t buy any bread for toast. He didn’t buy anything that you would make with vegetable oil, nothing at all,” Hon said.
“This was a premeditated, despicable act. And on many levels, if not all levels, you may not even be a human being. You, sir, are an animal,” Judge Greg Stephens said.
The judge then sentenced him to 27 years in prison for the crime plus another 10 years for being a repeat violent offender.
After a guilty verdict, James Witt, Jayla’s father, stood up to address Maloney and the court.
“I hope that he gets locked up until my daughter's scars go away,” James said. “Evil, evil, evil. You need to talk to the Lord before you die, sir. With that, thank you. Thank this court. Everything else. Bye-bye.”
Jayla left a letter to be read in court. She left the courtroom before the jury came back with the verdict because she wasn't feeling well.
“I'm terrified of the day my son comes to me and asks me, 'Mommy, what happened? Why don't other kids have what I do?' What do I tell them?” Jayla’s note read.
While the scars from Dec. 21 will never go away, Jayla and Tobias got justice.
“Thirty-seven years is a long time for a fellow who is 42 years old. He's got years to think, and the victim has years to suffer,” Mike Gmoser, Butler County prosecutor, said.
Despite everything that happened, in Jayla’s letter, she writes that she forgives Maloney.
“Today, I've decided to forgive you. Not because you apologized, but because you acknowledged the pain and suffering you caused me and my baby boy, but only because me and my son deserve to find peace with the situation,” Jayla wrote in her letter.