William Jacobs (Cañon City Police Department).
In a troubling development, charges have been refiled against a Colorado man accused of killing a 10-month-old baby in a Motel 6. Allegedly, the motive was to win favor with the infant’s mother, according to court documentation.
William Jacobs, then 21, was initially arrested in May 2023 on charges of murder and child abuse following the tragic death of baby Edward Hayes at a Motel 6 in Cañon City. Jacobs had reportedly been the last person to care for Edward, having volunteered to babysit for the child’s mother.
The legal proceedings encountered a significant hiccup in 2024 when the charges against Jacobs were dismissed. This decision stemmed from a ruling by a district court judge who deemed that the comments made by former 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley during a media interview breached ethical standards. The judge labeled her actions as “outrageous government conduct.”
However, a recent turn in the case emerged as the Colorado Court of Appeals overturned this previous decision. The appellate court ruled that Stanley’s actions did not meet the stringent criteria for “outrageous government conduct” required to justify such a dismissal, as established by legal precedents.
The court order clarified, “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 faced disbarment and removal from office in November 2024 due to ethical violations, had told an ABC affiliate, KRDO, in August 2023, that Jacobs had agreed to care for the infant to pursue a relationship 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.
