by SEAN KIMMONS
A Hays County grand jury has handed down a capital murder indictment of a Kyle daycare owner charged in the death of the 10-week-old son of a Simon Middle School teacher who was injured while under her care, court records show.
Christina Suzanne Lyons, 32, had previously been charged with injury to a child, a first degree felony. An indictment for capital murder, which allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty, was granted by a grand jury on Feb. 3.
Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe said that her office will not pursue the death penalty.
Benjamin Spencer suffered severe head and chest injuries while under Lyons care at the Little Lyons Cub Daycare at 561 Keystone Loop in the Steeplechase subdivision. He died a week later on Thanksgiving from the injuries he sustained.
Lyons’s attorney, Jason Trumpler of Austin, said she gave an inaccurate, contradictory initial statement to police but later told Child Protective Services that she left the napping infant unattended on the couch while she went to smoke a cigarette, use the restroom and sort laundry.
When she returned 15 to 20 minutes later, she found the infant in the backyard being haphazardly clutched by her four-year daughter, which is when she noticed the injuries.
“You don’t have to spend more than five minutes with Christina to know that there’s no way possible that she could harm anyone, let alone a baby,” Trumpler said Tuesday.
He doesn’t deny that his client may have been negligent that day; however, he argues that this wasn’t an intentional murder.
“There are a variety of charges that she may be guilty of but not capital murder,” says Trumpler, who added that negligent homicide, a state jail felony, could be one of them.
If a person kills a child under six years old with intent, a capital murder charge could be applied, investigators say.
According to an affidavit used to secure an arrest warrant, first responders told police the victim was unresponsive and was being assisted with his breathing. The infant sustained multiple bilateral posterior rib fractures and later had surgery due to “severe head trauma.” Police said that given the severity and location of the injuries, they were likely non-accidental.
Lyons told police that she left the child unattended on a sofa, approximately 24 inches high, while she went to the restroom. When she returned, she saw the child on the hardwood floor, laying face up, she said in the affidavit.
Police said they believe the force used to cause the injuries could not have been committed by a child. The victim, along with six other children, was under the sole care of Lyons at the time, the affidavit states.
Lyons was released from Hays County Jail on a $50,000 bond Nov. 20, the day after she was arrested, but later turned herself into authorities after the Hays County District Attorney’s Office successfully sought a bond increase to $500,000. She remains in custody.
District Attorney Sherri Tibbe declined to comment on the case, citing her office’s policy of not commenting on pending cases.
Spencer’s father, Duane Spencer, is the head director of bands at Simon Middle School, Hays CISD officials say. His wife, Robin, is employed at a Lockhart nursing and rehabilitation center. The couple also have a three-year-old daughter.
