Law&Crime Sidebar - Mom of Murdered Infant Defends Killer Dad in Horrifying Baby Wipe Killing Case

Episode Date: June 8, 2024

Despite a jury convicting Traveon Hughes, Sr. of murdering his 13-week-old son, the baby’s mother spoke during his sentencing hearing in support of him. She and some other family members believe first responders and EMTs were the ones who caused the baby wipe to travel so far down the infant’s throat. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber analyzes the horrific case with retired Florida judge Elizabeth Scherer.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lcsidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. What I want to say is y'all making a mistake. Y'all know what y'all did to my child and y'all will not get away with this. A man found guilty of killing his own baby who was only weeks old will likely spend the rest of his life in prison and you won't believe who came to his defense during victim impact statements. We're taking a closer look at this case with retired judge Elizabeth Sherer. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Well, an Ohio man could spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty

of killing his infant son. And during that sentencing hearing, some of the statements from people in the gallery and joining via Zoom was caused quite a stir. I'm talking about Travion Hughes, Travion Hughes Sr., to be more exact. He was 18 years old in June of 2022, and he had just moved to Cleveland from Chicago days earlier when first responders came to his home. His 13-week-old son, Trayvian Jr., was in distress, and he ended up dying. at the hospital. That is because doctors discovered that the child had a baby wipe lodged deep in his throat. Now, Hughes had been home with the baby while the child's mother, Asiona McEwen, was working.

The boy had been born around 12 weeks premature. So even though he was 13 weeks old at the time, the child was still the size of a newborn and only about eight pounds. Hughes ended up testifying during his trial that he had left a baby wipe on the little boy's chest while he went to get a new bib. that the 13-week-old was drinking formula on his own from a bottle. And Hughes said that he left the room for a short while to tend to old wounds that he had from when he was shot a few months back.

And when he ended up coming back into the room, he said he saw the baby choking and called 911. So basically what he's alleging is that the baby took the wipe himself and put it in his mouth. Now, the pathologist who did Travion Jr.'s autopsy said he didn't believe the average child his age would be able to get the white balled up and lodged into his throat on his own. We've actually heard some competing ideas about that. But four days after this baby died, Hughes was arrested. And last month, the jury found him guilty of not only murder, but also involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Hughes appeared in court last week to hear his sentence, which is essentially predetermined by Ohio law.

But this was also an opportunity for victim impact statements. and a few members of the baby's immediate family spoke briefly. My name is John, the grandfather, the grandbaby. What I want to start is a three-mile-old baby. Baby only can just blink his eyes, let him run, not crawl or walk. So, like, I wouldn't have a chance to take him to the daycare of him, changing his pap, or he can bottle feeding him. Like, I would ask, of course, to do the best that they can do.

That's my knowledge. And I let him give a second chance at life. Because my grandchild didn't have a second chance at life. He don't have a chance at life. He can't come back. There's no coming back, man. So I would ask that, Your Honor, that you, since this young man,

Yeah, man, to the best of your abilities. Thank you. Thank you. Your Honor, may I take the time and say something as well? Who is this? I'm not sure who this is. And who are you, sir?

Yes, my name is Markshaw Bullcox. I am Daniel Jackson's brother. I am the uncle of Tramian who had passed. I honestly would just like to say that I heard it was something from 15 to life, but he's only four months years old. Four months old, that man doesn't deserve to see the life again. I don't wish jail upon my worst enemy, but that little boy couldn't even defend himself. That little boy didn't even get to grow and even get to see the life as we know, as we all had to see it.

That man does not deserve to see the life again. And the prosecution and the defense gave short statements as well. The defendant has never accepted any responsibility for the death of his child. He has blamed others since day one, EMS, the hospital, even Trayvion Jr., for putting the baby wipe in his own mouth. Your Honor, these hands. These precious little hands did not have the ability to pick up that wipe and put it in his mouth, let alone ball it up and push it that far in. But he still maintains his innocence, that he did not recklessly or purposely shove a baby wipe into his baby's mouth. He says he didn't do it, and he stands by that.

So we do understand. We value the courts, the jury's verdict, but we just disagree with it. Thank you. So you heard it mentioned right there that the defense had said it was actually Trayvion Jr. himself that picked up the wipe and tried to swallow it whole. But when the baby's mother was given the opportunity to say something on the record, she pointed the finger at something else altogether, the state. What I want to say is y'all making a mistake. Y'all know what y'all did to my child and y'all would not get away with this. That's all I got to say.

Have a wonderful thing. All right. Evidence don't last, you know, the scales or what? Stop trying to take up for that man to kill that thing. That was McEwen's own father on the Zoom telling her not to put her support behind Hughes. Now, some members of Hughes and McEwen's family have accused the state of taking part in a cover-up. They seem to believe it was actually the first responders who tried to save Travion Jr. that did more harm than good, ultimately leading to his death.

Now, we asked the prosecutor for comment on this case, but because Hughes plans to appeal his conviction, she can't say anything just yet. By law, Hughes is automatically sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. The jury has spoken. You have been convicted of the crime of murder pursuant to 2903.02B of the Ohio Revised Code. The legislature provides only one sentence for a violation of this statute.

statute. Therefore, pursuant to law, you are sentenced to an indefinite term of 15 years to life. Jail time credit of 423 days will be credited to your account upon your going to the Ohio Lurane Correctional Institute. This is a sad story. And whenever I hear stories like this, I'm always asking myself, how well do you know the people in your life? Who are they? What are they up It's a scary concept to think about, but that's why I want to talk to you about our incredible sponsor and partner who may be able to help you out here. I'm talking about TruthFinder. So TruthFinder is a service that can provide actual safety for you guys. And I say that because TruthFinder is one of the largest public records search services in the United States.

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right now, here's the kicker. You can get 50% off of your first month of confidential background reports. Just go to truthfinder.com slash LC sidebar. Okay, now I want to play something else for you. I want you to listen really closely. This was heard as Hughes was led out of that courtroom. All rise. It's a little hard to hear, but you can almost hear the support for Hughes, almost like, and stay, stay strong. Well, the man, and again, this is the man who is just convicted and sent away for life from murdering a helpless baby, seemingly getting support. And the boy's mother and other family members tell Hughes to, you know, keep his head up.

It's astonishing that she could be showing such support for him when this is the situation that they're in, right? Well, to get a little bit more perspective on this, I want to bring in former judge, Elizabeth Cher, now in private practice with Conrad and Sherer. uh judge great to have you here really sad case what is your reaction to uh some of the the family members reaction to this well i used to tell my jurors both as a prosecutor and as a judge that you have to use your common sense you don't walk into a courtroom and set aside common sense and common sense tells you that a baby who's although 13 weeks he's only developed mentally of the

equivalent of eight weeks. So we have a two-month-old baby. We all know, I mean, I don't think it takes a doctor to be able to tell you that the fine motor skills of an eight-week-old baby are very, very limited. So the fact that the defense is alleging perhaps the baby did it to himself. If you can imagine an eight-week-old baby with their little tiny hands and they can't even grab onto things. First of all, I also had a problem with how is this eight-week-old baby holding a bottle by himself because I've never seen a kid at eight week or eight weeks be able to do that number one number two for him to be able to grab onto a wipe ball it up stick it in his little mouth and lodge it in his throat so that he can't breathe I mean it's it's rather

unbelievable and blaming the first responders well I don't believe that for a minute why what motive would any first responder have to be to be to ball up a baby wipe and stick it in an infant's throat unless they're saying that look the baby put in his throat and first responders not intentionally but through their actions they made the situation worse that they could have saved him but they didn't and they maybe it was some of the work they were doing to try to resuscitate him or whatever it is maybe that's why they believe that the state was involved in this but it is curious to hear the mother of the baby which in the majority of the cases that we have covered every case in fact that I've covered, where you have the father or even reverse it, the mother who's

accused of killing the child, that parent, that other parent is, you know, demonizes that parent. And their victim impact statements are just going after the defendant. Here, not so much. It was surprising. Unfortunately, in my experience, Jesse, I've had just the opposite experience. I have had so many cases. I used to work in dependency court with foster.

children. And I had so many instances where mom's boyfriend rapes teenage girl. There is forensic evidence. There's a confession to be back behind it. And I remember this one mom coming to court and saying, well, Judge, I don't know who to believe. And I said, what do you mean you don't know who to believe? This is your daughter. She's, there's forensic evidence. They found his semen in, in her. She was, she was a virgin before this happened. So there's tearing and there's all kinds of without getting too, you know, much into the details. There was forensic evidence, and I even called the lead detective on the phone who told the mother the details of the boyfriend's confession and the mother still wouldn't believe it. I don't know what that's about. I think that

most parents, the majority of parents like myself, we have this innate need to protect. We would throw ourselves in front of a bus to save our child. But I found when working, with children and families, that there are a very small minority of parents that they just don't have those instincts that the rest of us, that the rest of us have. It could be almost denial in a way, right? And look, and I'm curious for you, is it frustrating when you see a verdict put forward by the jury and there's not an accepting of that verdict? Now, of course, the defendant has a right to appeal and all that, but when people don't accept it, that the jury looked at the facts and the evidence that said, no, this is not a case of

the baby taking the wipe and putting it down his own throat. From you sitting, you know, on the bench, is it frustrating for you when people do not accept the jury's conclusion and they say there's something else going on here? That doesn't happen very often, but certainly, I'll say this, the juries are not perfect. I mean, our system of justice is obviously not perfect, but it is the best way to do things. It's the best system in the world. When you put six or 12 people together and they are brought in to show each other's point of views to sort of, you know, argue about whether this happened or whether that happened and what does this detail mean and what does this instruction mean? And how do we sort of piece this puzzle together to come

out with the right verdict? And I do believe that juries try their very best to come up with a fair an impartial verdict and I believe that that happened in this case I think that the evidence is pretty clear but criticizing a jury is actually for a lawyer

to criticize a jury or a judge to criticize a jury it's an ethical violation members of the public can do it but you know what unless you've walked in that person's shoes I say don't judge because from what I've seen jurors

work very very hard to get it right and not even necessarily criticizing the jury, just disagreeing with their ultimate conclusion. I mean, the jury knows better than some of the analysts or people who follow the case. They're there every day listening to every piece of evidence. You could disagree with a juror's decision, but you have to respect the juror's decision. At the end of the day, though, you have seen cases where people have been convicted of heinous crimes and murders, and there's still not someone who, there's still people who will not accept it. They won't believe it, right, no matter what. Yes. But

because of my experience and doing so many jury trials, because I've seen the actual process, and there's a huge difference, Jesse, between imagine a jurors sitting there. They're not only listening to the evidence, receiving the evidence, analyzing the evidence, but they're looking at the demeanor of each witness. Is this witness straightforward? Is this witness honest? Does this witness know what they're talking about? Does this witness testimony agree or disagree with the testimony of the other witnesses? And there is a lot to be. be said about being able to look somebody in the eye, hear what they have to say, and then determine that person's credibility. And that is something that probably in a trial, only the jury

gets to do, because even the judge is not looking those witnesses in the eye as the judge is sitting there. The jury has the best view of the witnesses. The witnesses are told to speak to the jury for that reason. Mr. Hughes' mother, Sandra Norwood, told the court, Ohio is going to get sick of me because justice will prevail. What can his family do if they believe he's really innocent? Well, the first thing that came to my mind is there is something in the child welfare system. It's called failure to protect. So an alarm went off in my head when I read that. And I thought she's got another child at home. And if she's not willing to accept this verdict, except the fact that her boyfriend was just convicted of first-degree murder and murdering her child,

can she protect her other children that are in her custody? There are cases, the case that I explained about when the mother would not accept that the boyfriend raped her daughter. The other children were removed from the home and put into foster care for the safety and welfare of those children. I found that those other children were at imminent risk of abuse, abandonment, or neglect because of this mother's innate, inability to protect her children so that that's the that's the first thing that stands out to me and in terms of but for him you know in terms of an appeal or getting this reversed in some way is there anything that his family could do or anything he can do i mean he can file an appeal but unless there was some reversible error the the fact that he believes the jury got it wrong is not is not

a grounds to appeal um his appellate rights are going to be that there was some error made during the course of the trial that there was some evidence that was admitted that perhaps should not have been admitted maybe the judge gave a wrong instruction things to that effect um but the fact that he just doesn't agree with the verdict is not grounds for an appeal and there's really no remedy for that you know like i said other than if there were errors made throughout the course of the trial which i don't know because i wasn't there right did you think it was interesting that it appeared that Ms. McEwen's own father on that Zoom was seemingly telling her, you know, don't put your support behind this guy. He was just convicted. Seems to me like she has a history of supporting men

that are not worthy of support. That's my impression from what her dad is saying. And also, her dad is older and wiser. So maybe he sees things that she doesn't. Or maybe he knows that his daughter has poor decision-making when it comes to men in her life. And before we wrap up, I wanted to ask you about, so he sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years, putting the whole idea of appellate rights to the side, chances that he could be released in 15 years. What does that usually look like? What is the determination there?

Because, again, he was just convicted of killing his infant son. done. In Florida, we don't have parole. If I send in someone to life, they do not come out unless they're dead. So as far as parole goes, I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I think that they look at the person's behavior while they're in prison. Did they try to rehabilitate themselves? Have they made efforts to become educated, to sort of take on jobs, to be any leadership roles, not bad leadership roles like gang type stuff? But, you know, a lot of, A lot of times prisoners get involved in churches or religion and things of that sort. Also, they'll take into account the perspective of the victims, all of the people that had the opportunity to speak, the grandfather, the mother, they would be able to come and speak. And ultimately, the parole board has to determine whether or not this person poses a significant threat to the community if released after 15 years. judge elizabeth share thank you so much appreciate it thank you and that is all we have for you

right now here on sidebar everybody thank you so much for joining us as always please subscribe on apple podcast spotify youtube wherever you're getting podcasts i'm jesse weber i'll speak to you next time You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.