Avery Xavier Glynn Bacon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering Avery

Avery Xavier Glynn Bacon was only six months old. He was born on June 19, 2012, in Queens, New York. His obituary remembers a baby surrounded by extended family, including grandparents, great-grandparents, a special aunt, and many other aunts, uncles, and cousins. Six months is hardly enough time to begin a life. Avery should have had years of firsts ahead of him first words, first steps, birthdays, school, friendships and all the little moments through which a baby's personality becomes known. Instead, Avery's life ended before he ever reached his first birthday. Most of what remains publicly documented about him concerns the catastrophic injuries he suffered and the criminal case against his mother. But Avery was a baby before he became the victim in a murder case. His name was Avery Xavier Glynn Bacon. He had a family. He had people who loved him. And he deserved the opportunity to grow up.

​

Avery's Story

During the night of December 16 into December 17, 2012, something devastating happened to Avery inside the Toledo apartment his mother, Amanda Bacon, shared with Frank Jones. At approximately 12:30 a.m. on December 17, Amanda and Jones brought Avery to the emergency room at St. Anne's Hospital. The six month old baby was unconscious. His head was severely swollen. There was purple bruising behind and around his ears. His pupils were dilated. His core body temperature had fallen to approximately 93 degrees. Doctors discovered that Avery's skull had been catastrophically fractured.  Amanda initially told medical personnel that Avery had fallen from a bed. But her explanations changed. At different points, she described leaving Avery while she went to the bathroom, placing him on the floor, leaving the apartment for cigarettes, and returning to find him injured. Amanda and Jones also gave police accounts that investigators considered conflicting. Doctors determined that what had happened to Avery could not reasonably be explained by an ordinary household fall. A pediatric neurosurgeon testified that Avery's skull fractures resembled an egg shattered against a flat surface. The force required to cause them was described as massive. Avery suffered fractures involving his skull, bleeding around his brain and eyes, and severe damage to the nerve fibers within his brain. His brain injuries were so extensive that deep structures of his brain had stopped functioning. By the time doctors evaluated him, his neurological condition was essentially unsurvivable. The physician testified that Avery's injuries were not consistent with falling from a bed or striking a coffee table. Instead, they were consistent with a baby being swung or thrown so that his head struck a hard, flat surface with tremendous force. Avery was transferred from St. Anne's to St. Vincent's Hospital. At his family's request, he was then transported to Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Doctors continued caring for him, but the damage to his brain could not be repaired. On December 18, 2012, Avery Xavier Glynn Bacon died. 

​

What Happened Inside the Apartment

Determining which adult inflicted Avery's injuries became a major issue during Amanda Bacon's trial. Amanda denied hurting her son and blamed Frank Jones. Jones denied causing Avery's injuries and testified against Amanda.

The defense argued that investigators had focused on Amanda while overlooking evidence that could have implicated Jones. In fact, police initially considered both adults possible suspects.  But the jury ultimately accepted the prosecution's case against Amanda. Evidence at trial established that Avery's injuries were not the result of a simple fall or accident. The medical evidence showed enormous blunt-force trauma. Avery's skull had suffered multiple fractures. His brain had suffered catastrophic injury. And according to expert testimony, Avery would have become unresponsive essentially immediately after the first devastating impact.  That medical timeline became particularly important because of the adults' differing accounts of when Avery was last behaving normally and when his injuries were first noticed. Whatever explanations were offered afterward, Avery could not tell anyone what happened. The evidence left his broken body to speak for him.

​

Justice for Avery

After Avery died, Amanda Bacon was charged with his murder. A Lucas County grand jury initially indicted her on murder and child endangering charges. A later indictment added a charge of aggravated murder. Her trial began in April 2014. Amanda continued to maintain that Frank Jones had injured Avery. Jones testified that Amanda was responsible. The jury deliberated for more than 13 hours over three days.  On April 18, 2014, the jury reached its verdict. Amanda Bacon was found: Guilty of murder. Guilty of child endangering. She was acquitted of aggravated murder.  On April 24, 2014, the judge sentenced Amanda to: 15 years to life in prison for murder, with a concurrent eight-year sentence for child endangering.

​

Amanda Bacon

Relationship to Avery: Mother

Convictions: Murder and child endangering

Sentence: 15 years to life for murder; concurrent 8-year sentence for child endangering

​

Amanda appealed her convictions. In 2016, the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals reviewed the case and affirmed the trial court's judgment, leaving her convictions intact.

​

Forever Remembered

Avery Xavier Glynn Bacon lived for six months. There is no need to soften the severity of what happened to him.

His skull was fractured with massive force. His brain suffered catastrophic damage. His head swelled. Bruising appeared around his ears. His body temperature dropped as his condition deteriorated. Doctors described injuries that could not have resulted from simply falling from a bed. Avery could not tell police who hurt him. He could not explain what happened inside that apartment. He could not defend himself. He was a six month old baby entirely dependent upon adults to keep him safe. But the violence inflicted upon Avery should not become his entire identity. His name was Avery Bacon. He was born in New York in the summer of 2012. He had grandparents. He had great-grandparents. He had aunts, uncles and cousins. He belonged to a family. There should have been a first birthday.

There should have been first steps and first words. There should have been preschool, kindergarten, school pictures, childhood friendships and years for Avery to become his own person. Instead, Avery's life ended before his first Christmas. Abuse Angels remembers Avery Xavier Glynn Bacon, tells the truth about the brutality that ended his life, and preserves the name of the baby boy behind the court records. Avery was here. Avery mattered.And he deserved far more than six months.​