Salisbury man on trial for killing ex-fiancee’s 2-year-old

Monday marked the beginning of what is scheduled to be a three-day trial in the Wicomico County Circuit Court for Travis Jones, the Salisbury man accused of beating his then fiancee’s 2-year-old son to death.                       

Jones is facing a slew of charges, including first degree murder and child abuse.

During opening statements the court learned that on July 20, 2015 Jones was at home with the child and sometime after 7 p.m. he found the child unresponsive. Paramedics were called to the scene, but they say the child was dead by the time of arrival. They described the body as covered in bruises, with sever diaper rash.

According the report from the state medical examiners office,  was blunt force trauma and dehydration.

The state wasted no time putting the mother on the stand, as they called her as their first witness. The mother, tearful in her account, spoke of how the last time she saw her son was the morning of his death before she left for work. The next time she saw him, was in the ER after he was pronounced dead.

The jury also heard from the paramedics who responded to the scene and the ER doctor who testified to the condition the child was in and that the boy was already dead by the time they tried to begin life saving techniques.    

However the most telling testimony may have come after the court returned from lunch, when state put on Det. Joseph Schultz with the Maryland State Police.

During his time on the stand the state played a video recording of an interview Schultz had with Jones.

During that interview  Jones claims the bruises may have come from the boy rough housing with his sister, a fall from his car seat and the child falling into a coffee table days before his death. 

Jones also admits that there was a square bucket in the houses kitchen that contained bleach and that the child may have drunk from it, a possible cause for the child’s death.

Now early in that interview you hear Jones sticking with the story that he had been awake all day and found the child sleeping downstairs. 

According to what the defense said during opening statements though, Jones eventually changed his story and admitted he did not come clean during that interview. 

In actuality it wasn’t until six months after the crime that Jones admitted he had fallen asleep and woke up to find the child unresponsive. 

As to what ultimately caused the bruising and dehydration,  that has yet to come out.

Day two of the trial is expected to start 9 a.m. on Tuesday.