Jury selected for trial of Jacob Bengert, accused in the death of his 3-month-old son
Jacob Bengert's trial will be the first murder trial here since the COVID-19 pandemic changed court procedures.
Mark WilsonEVANSVILLE, Ind. — Only jurors, witnesses and court officials are being allowed in the courtroom for Jacob Bengert's trial which began Monday in Vanderburgh Circuit Court.
Bengert, 29, is charged with murder after the Jan. 9 death of his 3-month-old son Kieran Bengert.
It will be the first murder trial here since social distancing, mask requirements and other precautions were put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jury selection was done Monday afternoon at the Old National Events Plaza to accommodate the size of the jury pool and meet social distancing requirements.
The trial then moved back to Circuit Court in the Vanderburgh County Courts building. The courtroom seating where the public would usually sit is being used to spread out the jury.
On Monday the jury heard opening arguments and two witnesses before ending for the day. The trial will continue at 8 a.m. Tuesday. It can be viewed live-streamed online by going to the public.courts.in.gov/incs# website and selecting Vanderburgh County from the drop-down menu.
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The infant's mother, Chelsea Marksberry, 32, is charged with neglect of a dependent causing death, a level 1 felony. Her trial is set for Oct. 26.
Emergency responders and police were sent to the house on East Illinois Street after Marksberry called 911 on the morning of Jan. 9 to report the infant was not breathing.
The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office ruled the infant's death a homicide and concluded the infant suffered massive multiple blunt force trauma prior to death.
Police said Bengert left the home after Marksberry called 911 but before officers arrived there, according to the affidavits of probable cause for their arrests.
Bengert was apprehended the following afternoon after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was caught in the area of Maxwell and Fares avenues, police said, after a motorist he attempted to flag down for a ride recognized him as the man police were looking for and called 911.
The affidavit for Bengert's arrest warrant said the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office observed severe facial injuries, severe burn marks on the child's face and chest and what appeared to be cigarette burn marks on his feet and hands.
Marksberry told 911 dispatchers Bengert claimed the infant fell off the bed earlier Wednesday but that the child seemed to be fine when she got home from work, according to the 911 call obtained by the Courier & Press. She said the baby took a bottle that night and slept through the night. When she woke up Thursday, she said the baby wasn't breathing, according to the 911 call. She said Bengert had tried to perform CPR.
According to the probable cause affidavit for Marksberry's arrest, both she and Bengert had left the house at different times earlier in the week to use heroin. She told police that when she woke up on Thursday morning, she reached over to check the infant and his face was dark. She said that is when Bengert told her he fell asleep while she was at work, and the baby fell off the bed. He went to change the child's diaper a short time later, and it wasn't breathing, so he began CPR.