MANCHESTER — Almost two years after 2½-year-old Jacob Pelletier died from blows to his stomach, his mother’s boyfriend went on trial Monday.
JACOB PELLETIER
MANCHESTER — The father-like figure accused of killing 2-year-old Jacob Pelletier 16 months …
Prosecutors said Mark Heath grew annoyed when he woke from a nap to see the toddler surrounded in his bed by food that he had purloined from the kitchen refrigerator.
Without marijuana to calm him, Heath grew more enraged over a soiled diaper, Assistant Attorney General Heather Cherniske said in her opening argument.
“He beat Jacob, he bruised Jacob, and he literally broke Jacob’s tiny body,” Cherniske said.
But Heath, who has been in jail since being charged with the Dec. 13, 2017, murder, did not kill Jacob, according to public defender Marc Gouthro.
In his opening argument, Gouthro incriminated the boy’s mother — Alisha Pelletier — who was alone with her toddler that morning while Heath slept. She had her own stress: It was her first day of work at Dunkin’ Donuts after not working for five years.
Prosecutor Heather Cherniske points to defendant Mark Heath while giving opening statements at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester on Monday. Heath is charged in the 2017 death of 2½-year-old Jacob Pelletier.
And although she initially cooperated with police, Gouthro said, Pelletier eventually stopped talking with them until prosecutors signed a grant of immunity.
“Innocent mothers do not need immunity,” Gouthro said. “Innocent mothers would do anything to help police find the murderer of their child. They do not need to make deals.”
The trial opened Monday in Hillsborough County Superior Court.
In her opening argument, Cherniske used big-screen monitors to show photographs of Jacob: three days before his death when sledding with Heath, his mother and older brother; the day of his death on his bed with his cache of food; and photos of a dead boy with bruises on his cheek, jaw, forehead and especially his abdomen.
Medical Examiner Dr. Jennie Duval determined the boy could have lived only minutes after the beating, Cherniske said. The key photograph is the one with the food. Jacob is surrounded by mangoes in a plastic container, a sippy cup, spilled cereal and a fruit cup.
Heath had texted that to Pelletier.
Less than an hour after Heath took the photo, Jacob was dead, Cherniske said.
Gouthro’s opening argument focused less on Heath than on Pelletier. She was eventually charged with child endangerment. When child protective workers refused her access to her older son, she agreed to speak to police with a grant of immunity.
Gouthro noted that Duval has said that death could have come hours after the blow.
And he indicated that Heath staged the bedroom food photo, something Heath and Pelletier occasionally did while exchanging texts. Pelletier was in the front row of the courtroom, alongside several family members and Attorney General victim witness advocates.
In an earlier ruling, Judge Diane Nicolosi had prevented the defense attorneys from claiming that Pelletier was the murderer.
But a day later, Nicolosi reversed herself, noting that Pelletier had initially told police that Jacob’s older brother could be responsible because she saw the 5-year-old jump on Jacob.
“A witness with opportunity, who gives an entirely implausible version of events as to the cause of death, could arguably be creating a story to cover her guilt,” Nicolosi wrote on Oct. 18.
For months, both sides have argued over what material should be presented to the jury — how much Pelletier helped Heath’s marijuana-selling operation, spankings and other injuries to Jacob, DCYF records, Heath’s 2003 conviction for killing a cat.
Defense attorney Tony Naro would not answer questions about whether Heath will take the stand. The trial is expected to last all week and possibly into next week.
