Three-year prison term recommended in child’s death

Editor’s Note

Some readers may find the content of the following report disturbing.

SYDNEY — A Glace Bay man told police investigators his nearly four-month-old son was injured when he fell down a flight of stairs while holding the baby.

An autopsy concluded the child died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma and ruled the death a homicide.

On July 30, Jason Wayne Comer, 44, will be sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of criminal negligence causing death. A second charge of failing to provide the necessities of life was dismissed.

The offence occurred between Sept. 28, 2019, and Oct. 9, 2019, in Glace Bay.

John Beckam Buckler was born on June 25, 2019. He was pronounced dead in hospital on Oct. 9, 2019.

“The Crown does not know who caused the injuries to the child,” said prosecutor Darcy Macpherson, in reciting the facts of the case to provincial court Judge Dan Macrury.

However, Macpherson said the Crown can prove that Comer was negligent in causing the death by failing to immediately call for emergency assistance.

“The Crown believes the accused caused the death by failing to provide medical care,” said Macpherson.

The court was told that Comer did not have custody of his son but did have visitation. Comer and the child’s mother had been together for about five years and Comer had been living in his own apartment for about two years.

The autopsy report, said Macpherson, indicated that each of the child’s ribs was fractured at least once and there were multiple liver lacerations caused by punching or squeezing.

He said some of the injuries were believed to have been caused within 24 hours while others were as long as 28 days prior.

At the time of death, the child was living with his father because the electricity at his mother’s home had been disconnected days before.

Prior to the child’s death, Comer said he fell down a flight of stairs while carrying the baby. He said the child appeared to suffer only an injury to his nose which was red for a few days and did bleed at the time of the fall.

A description, offered by Macpherson to the court, of video taken by Comer on his cellphone in the very early morning hours of Oct. 9 shows a child in distress.

Comer made two other videos that were entered into evidence. The videos were not played in court at the request of the defence but the judge said he would review the evidence in private.

In the video, a child is heard moaning and has difficulty breathing and opening his eyes.

Defence lawyer Darlene Macrury explained to the court that her client had gone into panic mode — he knew there was something wrong but wasn’t quite sure how to address the problem.

She said Comer knew child welfare officials had already been involved in his wife’s life and wanted to document everything.

“He knows there is a problem but fails to take the next steps to deal with the problem,” said Macrury.

“He didn’t know what was going through his head. He had no car, no money and no means,” she said, in offering her client’s explanation of events.

It wasn’t until shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 9, that Comer finally called emergency after finding the baby unresponsive in the playpen.

The Crown and defence have made a joint sentencing recommendation of a threeyear prison term along with a 10-year ban on weapons. Comer will also submit a DNA sample to the national registry.