William Jacobs (Cañon City Police Department).
Charges have been reinstated against a Colorado man who allegedly killed a 10-month-old baby he was watching at a Motel 6 so he could "get laid" by the child's mother, according to court records.
William Jacobs, who was 21 at the time of the infant's death, was arrested in May 2023 and charged in Fremont County with murder and child abuse after the baby was found dead at a Motel 6 in Cañon City. He was allegedly the last person to take care of the child, Edward Hayes, after volunteering to babysit for the boy's mother.
The charges were dropped against Jacobs in 2024 after a district court judge ruled that the prosecutor handling the case, former 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley, made comments about Jacobs in a media interview that violated ethical standards and amounted to what the judge described as "outrageous government conduct."
Last week, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the decision and said that Stanley's conduct "does not satisfy the stringent standard for finding outrageous government conduct as set forth in the case law."
The court's order added, "Stanley's commentary on the case did not play any part in the filing of charges against Jacobs. … Therefore, regardless of how improper Stanley's public comments were, they did not constitute the kind of outrageous conduct that justifies the sanction of dismissal."
Stanley, who was disbarred and removed from office in November 2024 for ethical violations, told ABC affiliate KRDO in August 2023 that Jacobs was watching 10-month-old Edward so he could try to sleep with the child's mother.
"I'm going to be very blunt here. He has zero investment in this child. Zero. He's watching that baby so he can get laid… and have a place to sleep," Stanley said. "I'm sorry to be that blunt, but honest to God, that's what's going on."
Court documents obtained by KRDO state that Jacobs was staying at the Motel 6 where Edward was allegedly killed when he met the boy's mother, who was working as a front desk clerk. The pair moved in together just days later in the same room where Edward was found dead with alleged signs of abuse.
According to the court documents, Jacobs admitted during a police interview to biting Edward on the arm "while playing with him" and hitting Edward's head on a door frame while trying to make him throw up.
"I'm confident we have that evidence or else I wouldn't have charged it," Stanley told KRDO. "I had just had so many buzzers going off when they said the boyfriend was watching him," she said. "There was a whole lot of things indicative of a prior incident with that baby."
Jacobs is expected to be rearrested in the coming days.
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