Judge rules against defense in Lockport double-murder case on alternate suspect

For a second time, a Will County judge rejected the introduction of an alternate suspect in the upcoming trial of a Crestwood man charged with the murder of a woman and their daughter in Lockport.

On Friday, Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak denied a motion from attorneys for Anthony Maggio, 30, to reconsider her ruling denying a defense motion to introduce an alternate suspect at Maggio’s trial.

Maggio’s trial is expected to begin the week of Sept. 30.

Maggio is charged with the 2020 first-degree murder of Hazel Bryant, his infant daughter, and the first-degree murder of her mother, Ashtin Eaton, 32, with whom he was in a relationship.

Maggio’s attorneys have contended Eaton’s ex-husband should be considered an alternate suspect in the case based on his past criminal history and on what the attorneys say is a flawed alibi on the day of the murders.

On Aug. 28, Bertani-Tomczak rejected the defense motion for an alternate suspect because Maggio’s attorneys failed to provide evidence against Eaton’s ex-husband that rose above the level of speculation or mere suspicion.

Prosecutors objected to the alternate suspect theory because there was no DNA evidence linking Eaton’s ex-husband to the murders.

“I know that for sure from the forensic analyst,” said Chris Koch, Will County assistant state’s attorney, at Friday’s hearing.

After the judge’s decision to deny reconsideration of her ruling, both parties in the case had a lengthy back-and-forth on whether Eaton’s ex-husband should even be mentioned at Maggio’s trial.

But Bertani-Tomczak said she “didn’t think there’s anything for me to rule on.”

The charges against Maggio were first filed in December 2022, following a two-year investigation by the Lockport Police Department.

Prosecutors allege Maggio killed Eaton and staged her death to look like a suicide. Even though Eaton’s wrist had been cut, her actual cause of death was by strangulation, prosecutors allege.

Prosecutors claim Maggio was motivated to commit the murders because of his dispute with Eaton over her request that he pay child support for Bryant.