Jeffery Baker cried Tuesday when faced with yet another delay to his first degree murder trial, after a witness mistakenly told a jury he had been on parole and the case ended in a mistrial.
On Thursday, Baker found out his new trial on first degree murder charges is set to begin May 7 in front of 4th District Judge Pat Owen.
This trial will have a new jury who won’t know about Baker’s criminal past for forgery. What they will know is that Baker is accused of killing his 11-week-old infant daughter Gracelynn in May 2010.
Ada County prosecutors say the fatal injuries to the Gracelynn Baker’s head and brain were consistent with shaking and a blow to the head — and they say Jeffery Baker did it after he picked up the infant from a babysitter on May 10, 2010.
Prosecutors say medical tests show Baker fatally injured Gracelynn that day and then lied to his neighbors and police, saying the baby lost consciousness while choking on formula.
The jury will hear about how Gracelynn’s mother, Shawna LeBleu, lost custody of her daughter to 52-year-old Baker a few weeks after Gracelynn was born as LeBleu struggled to recover from substance abuse. Baker and LeBleu had a short relationship but were no longer romantically involved when the baby was born in February 2010.
Baker’s attorneys will tell the jury that he is not guilty of the crime — and that the evidence doesn’t support prosecutor’s claims on what actually happened. It is unclear if Baker’s attorneys will give the new jury an alternate theory on what happened to Gracelynn, which they did not do earlier this week during opening statements.
One thing the jury will likely not hear is Kris Elliott mention that Baker was on parole for forgery conviction when Gracelynn died.
Elliott, who babysat Gracelynn for Baker, told Owen that she was aware she wasn’t supposed to bring that up when testifying in the case but simply forgot, when asked a question about when she first met Baker.
That slip up caused the mistrial, and Owen warned her not to make that mistake when the new trial takes place.
Ada County prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against Baker, but he could still be sent to prison for life if found guilty of first degree murder. With the mistrial earlier this week, Baker's trial has been delayed at least three times over legal issues.
