Father convicted of murdering baby son

The state is seeking the death penalty in the case of a man who fatally injured his 3-month-old son.

By SHARON TUBBS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 9, 2000

LARGO -- Just after 3:40 p.m. Saturday, Jared Dougherty took off his lace-up shoes, his gray suit jacket, his tie and belt, and then handed them to his sobbing girlfriend.

He wouldn't need any of those things now. After deliberating four hours, a 12-member jury had found him guilty of first-degree murder in the death last year of his 3-month-old son, Brennan.

Kathryn Spencer, Brennan's mother, sat shaking with emotion as Dougherty walked away. He was still her boyfriend.

Dougherty posted bail New Year's Eve and moved in with Spencer and her father in Clearwater. During breaks in the five-day trial, 21-year-old Spencer and 23-year-old Dougherty had hugged and consoled each other.

However, it was clear in his attorney's closing arguments Saturday that Dougherty's freedom was not expected to last. "We're not going to ask you to acquit in this case," public defender Dean Livermore said. "We're not going to ask you to find him not guilty."

Instead, the defense argued Dougherty should be charged with the lesser offense of manslaughter. He "snapped" and didn't mean to kill his son, Livermore said.

"We know from all the evidence you've heard that he . . . cared a lot for this child," Livermore said.

Dougherty and Spencer were young, immature, first-time parents, Livermore said. And Dougherty was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he caused the injuries that led to Brennan's death, he said.

"Did he do it? Yeah," Livermore said. "Did he understand it? No."

But Assistant State Attorney Tim Hessinger disputed what he called the "good father evidence."

"Members of the jury, this case is not about a father who loved his son," Hessinger said.

Dougherty didn't call paramedics to the couple's Largo apartment after his son was injured, but rather waited about 15 minutes until he could reach Spencer by phone, Hessinger said.

The two had had an argument that night. She was staying at a friend's house when Dougherty called to say something was wrong with the baby. When she got to the couple's Largo apartment, Spencer found her son in pain. His skin was turning gray, she testified. She called 911.

Hessinger also reminded jurors that Brennan was injured two weeks prior to his death while alone in Dougherty's care. Hessinger said the couple had tried to cover up Dougherty's abuse.

"She is there till the end with him," Hessinger said, motioning to Spencer, who sat sniffling beside Dougherty's family.

Dougherty, once a supervisor for a telemarketing company, never took the stand.

A Largo police officer and a child protective investigator who interviewed him the day Brennan was rushed to the hospital described what had happened for jurors.

The investigator, Christine Martin, said Dougherty told her "he picked up the child, shook him slightly and slammed him into the cement floor." Dougherty later said the floor was carpeted, Martin said.

Police arrested Dougherty on aggravated child abuse charges March 12, 1999. The charges were upgraded to murder after Brennan died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa on March 13.

The state is seeking the death penalty. Whether the jury will actually have the option of recommending death, rather than life in prison, was uncertain Saturday.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Brandt Downey III has questioned whether the death penalty would be appropriate in this case. He will meet with attorneys later this month to talk over the matter. If he decides to go forward with the death penalty phase, jurors will deliberate during the first week of May, Downey said.

Dougherty was convicted of felony first-degree murder, which does not require premeditation. For instance, if a store clerk is killed during a robbery, all the robbers could be charged with felony murder, even if they didn't plan to kill anyone. The felony in Dougherty's case is aggravated child abuse.

Defense attorneys are preparing for the possible death penalty phase. There was talk between defense attorneys Saturday of presenting a mental evaluation of Dougherty to jurors should they be asked to decide in a penalty phase.

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