Man convicted of killing Lockport mother, child seeks a new trial

Attorneys for a Crestwood man convicted of killing a Lockport woman and their 14-month-old child in 2020 are claiming constitutional violations should grant him a new trial.

Attorney Michael Clancy filed a six-page motion for a new trial on Tuesday on behalf of Anthony Maggio, 30. On Oct. 11, a Will County jury found Maggio guilty of the Oct. 2, 2020 first-degree murder of Ashtin Eaton, 32, and the first-degree murder of their daughter, Hazel Bryant.

The jury delivered to their verdict following seven days of testimony and about 15 hours of deliberation.

Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak is scheduled to consider the motion on Dec. 19, which is also the date for Maggio’s sentencing.

Motions for a new trial are commonly filed but rarely granted.

Clancy’s motion argued prosecutors failed to prove Maggio guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and made “prejudicial, inflammatory and erroneous statements” in closing arguments to “arouse the prejudice and passions of the jury.”

“The verdict was the result of passion, bias and prejudice on the part of the jury against” Maggio, Clancy’s motion said.

Clancy’s motion also contends Bertani-Tomczak committed at least 11 errors throughout the case, such as not allowing him to introduce Eaton’s ex-husband as an alternate suspect in the case.

The motion claimed that decision curtailed Maggio’s constitutional right to “confront witnesses and to present a complete defense.”

Clancy’s motion said Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Koch improperly argued, “Who else?” during the final closing argument from the prosecution in the case. Clancy contends Koch’s argument further denied Maggio’s right to present evidence of an alternate suspect.

Prosecutors had objected to allowing the defense to introduce Eaton’s ex-husband as an alternate suspect because he was cleared by the police investigation and DNA analysis of the evidence.

Clancy’s motion claimed Bertani-Tomczak should have granted his motion for a mistrial during jury deliberations and should have allowed him to interview a juror who sent him a “cryptic” email after the verdict to see “if he was trying to come forward about any juror misconduct.”

Bertani-Tomczak denied Clancy’s motion to interview the juror on Nov. 1. At the time, Koch argued the juror was not requesting to speak with Clancy and the email did not “allege any outside influence.”

During the trial, jurors learned Maggio, who was engaged to Marcelina Baliczek, 28, was having an affair with Eaton that resulted in the birth of their daughter Hazel in 2019. Eaton and Maggio had met each other at an Amazon facility in Joliet where the two worked.

Prosecutors said Maggio, who was burdened with debt, wanted to kill Eaton and Hazel to avoid paying child support for Hazel. They said Maggio also wanted to maintain his relationship with Baliczek, who was the mother of his two other daughters.

Prosecutors said Maggio strangled Eaton to death, staged her death to look like a suicide and smothered Hazel to death.

Although there were no eyewitnesses or videos placing Maggio at the crime scene, the key evidence in case was Maggio’s DNA on the neckline of Eaton’s shirt, her fingernails and on the knife found next to her body.

Detectives became suspicious of Maggio when he admitted during his lengthy police interview that he did not call Eaton right after learning of Hazel’s death nor told his father, Martin Maggio, that she died. He also told detectives he did not attend a vigil for Hazel either.

Baliczek and Martin Maggio, both of whom testified at the trial, refused to be interviewed by detectives but they were later called to testify in front of a grand jury, according to police reports.