A man from Warminster has been charged with murder following the death of a one-month-old baby in May 2020. James Lawton, 27, appeared at Reading Magistrates Court Wednesday morning and was charged with one count of murder and grievous bodily harm.
The accused stood silent during the entire time in court and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth. He wore a grey police-issued uniform with District Judge Steen adjourning the hearing to Reading Crown Court where he is scheduled to appear the following day.
Thames Valley Police officers rearrested Lawton along with a woman while they were out on bail after having been previously arrested on suspicion of murder connected with the death of Colby Lawton last year. They were rearrested on May 25 but the woman was released on bail.
On May 9, 2020, officers were called to a home in Fountain Gardens, Ashridge Court, Newbury at around 1:50am about a baby who was in cardiac arrest.
Berkshire Live reported the child was taken to hospital for treatment but had later died. The post-mortem on the child has not yet established the cause of Colby's death to this day.
Meanwhile, a 32-year-old father in Alabama was arrested and charged with capital murder for the death of his 5-week-old son last May 10. According to Montgomery Chief Deputy Murphy, Caleb Whisnand Sr. lodged a call to the police past 10pm to report that his son was missing.
The baby’s body was found in a rural area of Lowndes County shortly after his parents gave a news conference as they made a public plea for their baby’s safe return. The Alabama Department of Forensic Science performed an autopsy and determined that the baby’s cause of death was a blunt force trauma to the head.
Investigators were able to trace the case back to the child’s father and arrested him shortly after they appeared in the media for their press conference. Court documents also show that Whisnand was out on bond on another case in Elmore County at the time of his son’s death. Whisnand is being held in the county jail without bond.
