A Franklin man will serve life in prison after admitting last week in Macon County Superior Court to killing his infant son.
Jesse Wilson, 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the May 11, 2017, death of 3-month-old Liam Wilson, according to District Attorney Ashley Welch.
The plea on Aug. 10 came about two weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin. A jury conviction in the capital case would have meant he faced the possibility of a death sentence. After a verdict, the trial would have moved to a penalty phase, with additional information for jury members. Jurors would then decide whether the defendant should be executed.
“This case horrified and traumatized seasoned officers and prosecutors,” Welch said. “We ultimately accepted the plea to spare jurors from experiencing that same horror and trauma while reviewing the case and other evidence, including photos.”
“In North Carolina, life in prison means for all his remaining days,” she added.
An autopsy showed Liam died from asphyxia and smothering. There also was blunt force trauma to his head. Wilson was the only person present in the house on Marion Thomas Road, Franklin, when Liam died. Wilson was arrested in July 2017
“This case has been heartbreaking,” Sheriff Robert Holland said. “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.”
Senior Resident Judge Bill Coward was the presiding judge. Assistant district attorneys John Hindsman and Jim Moore were co-prosecutors with District Attorney Welch. Macon County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dani Burrows and Detective Amy Stewart handled the investigation.
Charges against mother
The child’s mother, Julia Angel Vance, was arrested in December 2017. Her case is still pending according to the DA’s office. She has been charged with one count of undesignated degree murder and two counts of felony negligent child abuse-serious bodily injury.
Autopsy findings
Macon County 911 received a call at 8:44 a.m. on May 10, 2017, and Jesse Wilson told dispatchers he found his son unconscious and that the last time he had seen the child breathing was approximately 8:20 a.m.
When first responders arrived at the home approximately 10 minutes later, they found the child unresponsive. According to the MCSO incident report, Wilson told deputies that he was caring for Liam while the boy’s mother was at work.
According to Macon County Sheriff’s Office reports, during questioning Wilson admitted he often became frustrated when Liam was crying and that he would “squeeze his head” and that Liam would “look at him all funny with his eyes and go down to a whimper.”
The child’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Winston-Salem for an autopsy. In the preliminary autopsy report, investigators noted multiple contusions, petechiae (spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding from ruptured blood vessels), a bruised frenulum (a fold of skin beneath the tongue), retinal hemorrhaging and 17 visible bruises on the head. The final autopsy report confirmed a number of bruises to the child’s head area and determined that those bruises were from multiple incidents.
“The appearance of bruises and the finding of hemosiderin-laden macrophages in the bruises of the forehead and side of the head are consistent with an older age of bruising,” Dr. Jerri McLemore said in her report narrative. “The pattern of bruising is consistent with the alleged squeezing of the infant’s head.”
Fresh bruising around Liam Wilson’s mouth and chin led McLemore to conclude that smothering was the cause of death.
The autopsy report concluded that Liam was the proper size for a child his age and appeared to be properly nourished. There were no illegal substances present in the child’s blood at the time of his death, according to the toxicology report.