Defense attorney in Lockport murder trial cross-examines lead detective

A defense attorney in a Lockport murder trial sharply questioned the lead detective about his investigation of a double homicide that led to charges against a Crestwood man.

The testimony of Lockport Police Detective Jacob King concluded on Friday in the ongoing trial of Anthony Maggio, 30. He is charged with the Oct. 2, 2020, first-degree murder of Ashtin Eaton, 32, and their 14-month-old daughter, Hazel Bryant.

Prosecutors alleged Maggio strangled Eaton but staged her death to look like a suicide by cutting her left forearm. Prosecutors also said he smothered Hazel to death.

Jurors learned from King’s testimony on Friday that Maggio’s DNA was found on the neckline of Eaton’s T-shirt, on her fingernails and on the box-cutter knife next to her body. But they also learned DNA from other people were also found on items as well.

When King was cross-examined by Maggio’s attorney, Michael Clancy, King acknowledged that Eaton’s neck, Hazel’s face, Eaton’s vehicle and the surfaces of her apartment were not swabbed for DNA testing.

King testified that a pillow with a small spot of blood on Eaton’s bed – where Hazel’s body was found – was tested for DNA. But King acknowledged the bedding was not tested for DNA.

Clancy asked King if he ever searched Maggio’s vehicle.

“Well, he eventually stopped cooperating, so no,” King said.

King said investigators checked with a car dealership to see if location data could be extracted from the kind of vehicle Maggio drove but they learned there was “not much data” to extract. King said investigators did not search Maggio’s fianceé's vehicle or its location data either.

During Clancy’s cross-examination, King said the police didn’t have the resources to review thousands of cameras to see how Maggio’s vehicle traveled to Lockport during the timeframe of the homicides.

King said there were numerous combinations of travel between Maggio’s residence in Crestwood and Eaton’s residence in Lockport.

“We have no way of knowing which way he went,” King said.

He said officers reviewed video from businesses in Lockport but they found nothing of “evidentiary value.”

In Maggio’s Oct. 6, 2020, interview with King and Lockport police Cmdr. John Arizzi, he said the last time he was in Lockport to visit with Eaton was on Sept. 20, 2020.

An analysis of Maggio’s phone data did not show a location for Lockport on that day, according to King’s testimony. Jurors saw text messages that suggested Maggio knew how to avoid location tracking on his phone.

During Maggio’s police interview, he turned over his cellphone and allowed King to swab the inside of his mouth for DNA. Maggio also agreed to submit to a lie detector test but King said in court on Friday the test was never conducted.

Maggio “did not deny you anything in that interview?” Clancy asked.

“No,” King said.

King said he called Maggio to tell him of Hazel’s death on the night of Oct. 2, 2020. He said Maggio’s quiet reaction to the news was strange.

King acknowledged to Clancy that when he told Maggio in the police interview that Eaton’s other daughter may have died as well, Maggio looked upset. Clancy asked King if he saw Maggio’s reaction to Hazel’s death.

“I was on the phone with him,” King said.

Clancy asked King if he knew if Maggio was crying.

“I didn’t hear anything” King said.

In Maggio’s police interview, Maggio said he didn’t contact Eaton after King notified him of Hazel’s death, even though he sent Eaton a text message two days before. He said he didn’t tell the news of Hazel’s death to his father, who was at Maggio’s residence when King called.

When detectives asked Maggio why he didn’t tell his father, he said, “I didn’t know what to say.”

“I don’t buy that for one second,” King told Maggio.