DA to seek death penalty for Pa. woman charged with killing her 9-year-old nephew

By John Beauge | Special to PennLive

LOCK HAVEN -- The Clinton County district attorney says he will seek the death penalty if the woman accused of killing her 9-year-old nephew and leaving him in a bathtub is found guilty of first-degree murder.

District Attorney David Strouse Thursday cited three aggravating factors that will permit him to seek the death penalty for Jamie Lynne Jackson: The killing occurred while in the perpetration of a felony; it was committed by mean of torture; and the victim, Anson Landon Mitchell Stover, was under the age of 12.

Strouse had to announce his decision on the death penalty before Jackson, 36, is arraigned in county court Monday. She is jailed without bail on charges that include criminal homicide.

There was testimony at Jackson’s preliminary hearing that Stover, whose body was found Nov. 30, had injuries from head to toe.

The preliminary autopsy report lists two causes of death – blunt force injuries to the head and multiple blunt force injuries in general – city police Detective Richard Simpson testified at the preliminary hearing.

Brain damage, burns caused by cigarettes, black eyes, a cut on his penis and his fingers purple in color were among the injuries the detective cited. Stover weighed only 54 pounds, he said.

Jackson maintained in interviews she found her nephew on 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.

She admitted finding a little blood in his room that she removed when she shampooed the rug, he said.

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 her 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 but 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 of Stover and his three sisters three years ago 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.