Christina Lyons

Case record: Christina Lyons

Background

Christina Suzanne Lyons was a Kyle day care owner. She ran an at-home daycare called “Little Lyons Cub Daycare” at 561 Keystone Loop in the Steeplechase subdivision. At the time of Benjamin Spencer’s death, Lyons was described as 32 and as a 33-year-old. Lyons was court-appointedly represented by Ariel Payan and Ira Davis during the capital murder trial. The prosecution was led by Hays County Assistant District Attorney Amy Lockhart, who prosecuted the case with Cathy Compton. Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe did not seek the death penalty in the case.

Lyons was described as a conscientious and hardworking daughter of a Comal County sheriff’s deputy. She was also portrayed in testimony as a pill-popping, emotionally unstable shirker who blamed her young daughter for injuries that killed 10-week-old Benjamin Spencer. Lyons testified that she began seeing a psychiatrist in 2008 when she became depressed after the birth of her daughter. At the time of Spencer’s injuries, Lyons testified she was taking her anti-depressant daily as prescribed and the others sparingly.

Lyons’ husband, Robert Lyons, and her mother and sister, Cindy and Mikayla Cook, testified that they saw Lyons’ daughter roughhouse a baby doll by slamming its head against a table on two separate occasions. Prosecutors pointed out that Robert Lyons’ and Cindy Cook’s versions of the baby doll episode differed, with Robert Lyons saying Lyons held the toy by its legs and Cindy Cook saying she held the doll by its middle. Lyons’ husband Robert Lyons and her mother Cindy had different accounts of one baby doll episode.

Benjamin Spencer’s father, Duane Spencer, was the band director at Simon Middle School. Duane Spencer spoke during the trial.

The offence

Benjamin Spencer was a 10-week-old infant who was fatally injured while under Lyons’ care at the Little Lyons Cub Daycare at 561 Keystone Loop in the Steeplechase subdivision. The injuries occurred during a November 2010 incident at the home daycare. 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.

According to the 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, and they believed the force used to cause the injuries could not have been committed by a child. The infant died on Thanksgiving from the injuries he sustained.

The injuries included skull and rib fractures. A medical examiner testified that one impact from a fall could not explain the injuries described and that it would be easier to explain them with more than one impact. The chief medical examiner also testified that he found the infant died as a result of blunt force trauma and that he found healing fractures on the infant’s ribs consistent with ongoing or prior abuse.

Lyons testified that she returned from a smoke break and found her daughter holding Spencer in the backyard. She said she asked her daughter, “Where did you drop him?” and “She didn’t answer me. I said, ‘Where did you drop him?’ and she pointed to the deck.” Lyons testified she initially did not tell police that she found her daughter holding Spencer because she did not want to blame the incident on the child. Lyons testified she did not tell Kyle Police Det. Pedro Carrasco that she found her daughter holding Spencer because she wasn’t thinking clearly and didn’t want to involve the girl, but she did tell a Child Protective Services agent that her daughter was holding the baby when she reported the incident to daycare licensers the next morning.

Defense attorneys suggested that Lyons’ daughter was responsible for Spencer’s injuries, possibly by pushing the newborn down a slide in the backyard. Doctors who testified said they did not think a four-year-old was strong enough to cause Spencer’s injuries nor that they could be caused under circumstances the defense suggested.

If convicted, Lyons faced the capital murder charge. If a person kills a child under six years old with intent, capital murder could be applied; if there is no intent it could be reduced to a manslaughter charge. Lyons’ attorney argued that the case did not involve intentional murder and referenced negligent homicide as a possible charge. Closing statements were expected and jurors were given the option of convicting Lyons on lesser charges than capital murder.

Investigation

The Kyle Police Department, in conjunction with the Hays County District Attorney, continued investigating the incident. Medical imaging of Spencer was reviewed, and a radiologist testified that most likely his injuries could not have been caused by a four-year-old girl. Prosecutors also grilled three of Lyons’ relatives who testified they saw Lyons’ daughter slamming a baby doll’s head against a table on two separate occasions.

At one point during testimony, Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton introduced a jailhouse recording of Cindy Cook telling her daughter that she had to “play it cool and play it dumb” and that she was “really going to have to put on a show.” Upon questioning, Cindy Cook said the conversation was about marital problems Lyons was having with her husband and was not related to Spencer’s death. Compton essentially conceded as much. The recording was not played in the presence of the jury but was referenced in an attempt to cast doubt on Cindy Cook’s credibility.

The parents of the infant were notified and the licensing division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was notified. A Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesperson, Julie Moody, said the daycare had a clean record since being registered in December 2009 and that it was the first and only incident the licensing division had to investigate at that particular child care facility.

Arrest and custody

Lyons was arrested for the serious injury of a child, a first-degree felony, and booked into the Hays County Jail. She was released from Hays County jail on Nov. 20 on a $50,000 bond. The Hays County District Attorney’s Office later successfully sought a bond increase to $500,000, and Lyons turned herself into authorities after the bond increase.

Lyons was charged on Feb. 3, 2011. She was previously charged with injury to a child, a first degree felony. She remained in custody after the bond increase.

Trial

Lyons faced capital murder charges in the death of Benjamin Spencer. The capital murder trial was held in Judge Bill Henry’s court. The trial was described as occurring in the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos. District Judge Bill Henry sentenced Lyons later.

During testimony, jurors were given the option of leaving the courtroom for the portion of the trial where the victim’s family got to address the defendant. One juror got up and left, but the others remained while Duane Spencer spoke. Duane Spencer said:

“We collectively as a family are stronger than you. My son was a better human being during his short life than you could ever hope to be in your miserable existence,” and he also said: “We had to overcome the untruth that we were inadequate parents and couldn’t tell the difference between the monster you were and the loving mom you pretended to be. We are stronger than that and we know the truth,” and: “You will always have the satisfaction of knowing the truth of what you did and why you will rot in prison,” and: “We will never know … why such an innocent child had to suffer at the hands of a monster.”

A tearful Christina Lyons testified that she left Spencer unattended while she smoked a cigarette in the garage. She testified she returned from her smoke break and found her daughter holding Spencer in the backyard, and she returned the baby to her living room couch before noticing a large bump on the side of his head. She testified she asked her daughter where she dropped him and that the daughter pointed to the deck.

Lyons acknowledged she failed in her duties as a childcare provider but said she did not kill or otherwise harm the baby. In testimony responding to court-appointed defense counsel Ariel Payan, Lyons stated:

“Whose job was it to protect him?” “It was mine,” Lyons said. When Payan asked “Did you do that?” Lyons answered: “No,” and she said it through tears.

Lyons testified she admitted leaving Spencer lying unattended on the living room couch on more than one occasion while she smoked a cigarette in the garage, but she said it was only during nap time when the older children were lying down elsewhere at her Steeplechase home. Prosecutors asked Lyons about her prescriptions to anti-depressant Cymbalta, anxiety drug Xanax, and sleeping aid Ambien. Lyons testified she started seeing a psychiatrist in 2008 when she became depressed after the birth of her daughter and that she took the anti-depressant daily as prescribed and the other medications sparingly.

Assistant District Attorney Amy Lockhart asked if Lyons was sacrificing her daughter to save herself. Lyons replied:

“I am not saving myself. I’m trying to get the truth out that I do not know what happened that day,”

The state rested its case as the defense called witnesses. Trial testimony included witness accounts from Chief Craig Kolls of the Kyle Fire Department, who was sent to the scene of the call. Chief Kolls testified that his boss heard the call on the radio and asked if the address was Christina’s address; Kolls testified he asked why don’t you head over there and that he did. He testified that when he arrived, Lyons was crying and distraught, and that he asked Lyons where her daughter and the other children were. Kolls testified he checked on the other kids and they were fine. Kolls said he provided snacks and drinks for the other children when Kyle Police officers arrived. Kolls testified that he saw Lyons the next day when he dropped off his daughter at her house and that she asked him if he thought Abby was safe with her; he testified:

“I said yes.”

The medical examiner, Travis County chief medical examiner Dr. David Dolinak, testified about Benjamin’s injuries. Lockhart handed a doll to Dolinak to point out the injuries for the jury, and Dolinak marked areas of the doll’s head that he reported fractured and bruised. Dolinak testified with the doll and gave answers to Lockhart’s questions about impacts, blunt force trauma, and inflicted abusive trauma. Dolinak testified: when asked if one impact from a fall could have caused the injuries he described, and:

“That would not explain it. It would be easier to explain it with more than one impact.” When asked if his findings were consistent with inflicted abusive trauma, Dolinak testified: “Yes, I found that the infant died as a result of blunt force trauma,” and he also testified about healing fractures on the infant’s ribs consistent with ongoing or prior abuse.

Three relatives testified about baby doll incidents in the hours and days after Benjamin was fatally injured while under Lyons’ care. Prosecutors noted that they had not told investigators about what they saw and said they were never asked and did not trust the Kyle Police Department. A planned testimony from Mikayala Cook about hearing the little girl say things was ruled inadmissible because it was hearsay and did not fall within hearsay exceptions. District Judge Bill Henry ruled it inadmissible.

State and defense counsel delivered closing statements beginning later in the trial schedule, and jurors were expected to be deciding Lyons’ fate.

Sentencing

Christina Lyons was found guilty of capital murder after more than a week of testimony. District Judge Bill Henry sentenced Lyons to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence was described as the automatic sentence for capital murder cases in which the district attorney does not seek the death penalty.

Outcome

Lyons was found guilty of capital murder in the death of 10-week-old Benjamin Spencer. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 4, 2012.

Other details

Lyons’ attorney, Jason Trumpler, said Tuesday that 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. Trumpler said that when she returned 15 to 20 minutes later, she found the infant in the backyard being haphazardly clutched by her four-year daughter and noticed the injuries. Trumpler said:

“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,” and: “He doesn’t deny that his client may have been negligent that day; however, he argues that this wasn’t an intentional murder.” He also argued: “There are a variety of charges that she may be guilty of but not capital murder,” and he added: “negligent homicide, a state jail felony, could be one of them.” Trumpler said: “If a person kills a child under six years old with intent, a capital murder charge could be applied, investigators say.”

Family details about the Spencer household included that Duane Spencer wiped tears from his eyes when he testified that he was holding Ben when he died. Duane Spencer was described as the head director of bands at Simon Middle School. Benjamin Spencer’s mother, Robin, was described as employed at a Lockhart nursing and rehabilitation center. The couple also had a three-year-old daughter. Duane Spencer testified that he and his wife were told there was an accident and their son was hurt at day care, and he testified about receiving an emergency call and seeing cop cars at her house, and that they were told Benjamin was taken to Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin. Spencer testified that doctors told him they had to sign a waiver to allow them to operate on Benjamin or he would die, and he testified that doctors later told them they were concerned Benjamin wouldn’t make it through the night because of the extent of his head injuries and that fractures on his ribs were most likely not accidental. He also testified that Benjamin was on life-support from November 18 until he died on November 25.

Lyons was described as having relatives, including Cindy and Mikayla Cook. She also had an at-home daycare described as in the Steeplechase neighborhood of Kyle. Chief medical examiner testimony used a doll to point out injuries, and the testimony included questions about impacts and blunt force trauma.