The ruling sends charges against William Jacobs back to Fremont County after a judge dismissed them over a prosecutor’s public remarks.

CAÑON CITY, Colo. — A Colorado appeals court has revived murder and child abuse charges against William Jacobs, a man accused in the 2023 death of 10-month-old Edward Hayes at a Motel 6 in Cañon City.

The May 21 ruling puts the case back in Fremont County after a district judge dismissed it in 2024 over comments made by former 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley. The appeals court said Stanley’s remarks were improper but did not meet the strict legal standard needed to throw out the prosecution. Jacobs, who was 21 when Edward died, is presumed innocent unless convicted.

The case began on May 21, 2023, when emergency crews were called to a room at the motel for an unresponsive baby. Edward was taken to Children’s Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he later died. Investigators said Jacobs had been watching the child while Edward’s mother, Brook Crawford, worked. Police later arrested Jacobs in Colorado Springs. Prosecutors charged him with murder and child abuse after court records said he was the last person known to have cared for the baby. Stanley later told a television reporter that Jacobs had no real connection to the child and was watching him to pursue a relationship with Crawford. “He has zero investment in this child,” Stanley said in the interview.

Court records described a short relationship that formed inside the motel. Jacobs had been staying at the Motel 6 where Crawford worked at the front desk. The two began seeing each other and moved into the same room within days, according to records cited in the case. Investigators said Jacobs told detectives he bit Edward on the arm “while playing with him” and that the baby’s head hit a door frame while Jacobs was trying to make him throw up. Other records said Jacobs described the child hitting a wall and a light fixture while in his care. Officials have not said in the revived case which statements they will seek to use at trial, and defense filings are expected to challenge parts of the prosecution’s evidence.

The legal turn came after Stanley gave a blunt interview about Jacobs in August 2023, while the case was still pending. District Court Judge Kaitlin Turner later found the comments harmed Jacobs’ right to due process and a fair trial. The judge dismissed the charges, calling the conduct outrageous. The appeals court took a narrower view. Judge Elizabeth L. Harris wrote for a three-judge panel that the comments did not play a role in the original decision to charge Jacobs. The panel said dismissal is a rare sanction and that courts have other tools to guard against pretrial publicity, including jury questioning, jury instructions and possible venue changes.

Stanley’s comments became part of a broader public reckoning over her work as district attorney. She was later disbarred and removed from office in November 2024 for ethical violations. Her discipline was separate from Jacobs’ criminal case, but the same interview helped frame the fight over whether the prosecution could continue. Colorado Politics reported that the state district attorneys association raised concerns after learning of the interview. Stanley also faced scrutiny for comments connected to another high-profile case in the district. By the time the appeals court ruled in Jacobs’ case, a new district attorney, Jeff Lindsey, had taken office and pursued the appeal.

The revived charges include murder in the first degree involving a victim under 12 years old, child abuse knowingly causing death and child abuse knowingly causing serious bodily injury. KOAA reported that no new court date was listed in the docket at the time of its May 21 report. The appeals court remanded the case to district court for further proceedings, meaning prosecutors may seek to return Jacobs to custody and move the case toward hearings. The next stage could include arguments over bond, evidence, jury selection rules and whether the earlier publicity requires special safeguards. The court did not decide whether Jacobs is guilty, and it did not rule on all trial issues.

Edward’s death also led to charges involving his mother. Colorado Politics reported that prosecutors charged Crawford with child abuse and cruelty to animals in a separate case. Other reporting said the child abuse count involving Crawford was later reduced. Crawford was working when police responded to the motel, according to accounts of the investigation. The record now before the courts centers on what happened while Edward was in Jacobs’ care and what medical evidence shows about his injuries. Officials have described blunt force head trauma and brain bleeding as key parts of the case. Some details remain contested because the case has not gone to trial.

The scene described in court records was a temporary living arrangement inside a budget motel, where work, housing and child care overlapped in the same place. A nurse staying nearby reportedly heard sounds from the room, saw Edward’s condition and helped begin CPR after 911 was called. That account could become important if prosecutors call the nurse as a witness. The motel room, the front desk where Jacobs and Crawford met, and the short timeline between their meeting and Edward’s death now form the basic setting of the case. For jurors, the central questions would include what happened inside the room and whether prosecutors can prove Jacobs caused the fatal injuries.

The next milestone is a Fremont County hearing date, which had not been listed in public reporting after the appeals ruling. The case now stands where it did before dismissal, but with a public record shaped by both the child’s death and the former prosecutor’s conduct.

Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.