A man from Western North Carolina will be spending the rest of his life in prison after admitting to killing his infant son.
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced Jesse Wilson, 26, of Franklin, pleaded guilty on Aug. 10, 2022 in Macon County Superior Court to first-degree murder in the May 11, 2017 death of three-month-old son Liam Wilson.
Wilson's plea came about two weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin. District Attorney Welch explained in a press release that a jury conviction in the capital case would have meant Wilson could face the possibility of a death sentence.
“This case horrified and traumatized seasoned officers and prosecutors,” District Attorney Welch said in the release. “We ultimately accepted the plea to spare jurors from experiencing that same horror and trauma while reviewing the case and other evidence, including photos.”
An autopsy revealed Wilson's infant son died from asphyxia and smothering. There were also signs of blunt force trauma to his head.
The release added that Wilson "was the only person present in the Marion Thomas Road, Franklin, house when Liam died."
“This case has been heartbreaking,” Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland said in the release. “I’m glad citizens who would have served as jurors will not be traumatized by the evidence. They would have never forgotten it, just as we will not. He now has a lifetime to think about what he did.”