Lockport double murder defendant still wants $10 million bond lowered

A defense attorney is once again asking a judge to lower the $10 million bond in a case where man is accused of with killing a woman and her baby in Lockport, and apparently staging the woman’s death as a suicide.

Another court hearing is set for Friday in the case against Anthony Maggio, 29, of Crestwood, who’s charged with the first-degree murder of Ashtin Eaton, 32, and her baby, Hazel Bryant, on Oct. 2, 2020, in Lockport.

Maggio’s attorney, Michael Clancy, filed a motion on June 23 that once again asked for a reduction of Maggio’s $10 million bond, which he contends is the “equivalent of no bond at all.” Maggio would need to post 10% of that amount – or $1 million – to get out of jail.

Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak had rejected Clancy’s request the first time after a March 24 court hearing. That decision was met by applause from Eaton’s family, who were in court at the time.

However, Bertani-Tomczak denied Clancy’s motion without prejudice, which gave him the chance to file another request in the future.

At the March 24 hearing, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Koch said a forensic pathologist determined Eaton died as a result of strangulation and her daughter died by suffocation, according to court records. Eaton also had a wrist cut but Koch said that was not the cause of her death.

Koch said prosecutors believe Maggio “staged this to look like it was a suicide when the evidence does not support that.”

In the latest motion, Clancy claims DNA from four “male contributors” found on Eaton’s shirt and DNA from at least two other male contributors from her fingernails.

Clancy argued police investigators made no effort to identify the other male DNA or identify the DNA on a box cutter. He also alleged they failed to swab Eaton’s neck and Byrant’s pillow or bedding.

Clancy said Maggio participated in an eight-hour interview with police on October 2020, provided a DNA sample and consented to a search of his cellphone, residence, and vehicle and “expressed willingness to take a polygraph examination.”

Clancy also pointed to Eaton’s ex-husband as a possible suspect in the case and alleged the police did not thoroughly investigate him. Clancy claimed the ex-husband apparently had a questionable alibi and had been involved in multiple instances of domestic violence, including toward Eaton.

Koch has insisted that DNA analyzed from Eaton’s fingernails and shirt matched Maggio’s DNA.

Clancy contends Maggio’s phone was nowhere near Lockport during the timeframe of the deaths.

Koch has said Maggio left his phone at home because he lived with his fiancé and children and he did not want his fiancé finding out he was driving to Lockport to have an affair with someone.

Koch said prosecutors will be able to show Maggio was the father of Bryant. He said they had evidence that Maggio did not want to pay child support through the court system that he said he was in a lot of debt.

He said Eaton had another child much older than Bryant and that child woke up on the morning of the incident to find Eaton bleeding with a cut to wrist. Koch argued Maggio’s release from jail would put that child’s safety at risk.

For more than two years, police officials in Lockport had kept quiet about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Eaton and her child until their investigation led to the arrest of Maggio last year.

The most police had said about the case before Maggio’s arrest was that they found a dead woman with her wrist cut and a dead female child as well.

Will County Coroner Laurie Summers’ office announced their deaths on Oct. 3, 2020, but did not name them at the request of the police department. Even long after Maggio’s arrest, Summers’ office has not publicly said their deaths were the result of an apparent homicide.