OVIEDO, Fla.,None — An Oviedo man accused of murdering a 3-year-old girl could now face the death penalty. WFTV found new paperwork that unveiled how the victim's grandmother helped get the stronger charges against Isaac Burt.
Burt now faces capital punishment on his murder charge. He ducked and stayed silent after bonding out of jail on child abuse charges November 10, but he was re-arrested days later on murder charges.
Now, WFTV has learned Burt will face the death penalty for allegedly killing his live-in girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter, Faith Jackson.
Oviedo police were suspicious from the start. Burt and the child's mother, Crystal Aday, said they found the girl unconscious on the bathroom floor and rushed her to the hospital where doctors found many old and new bruises and cuts.
The parents told police they'd been home cleaning all day, but a new arrest report shows Aday's own mother unraveled that story.
The day the toddler died, Aday called her mother from a Walmart hysterical about a fight with Burt about his discipline of the girl. According to the report, "The mother stated she immediately thought Mr. Burt physically abused [the victim] … Ms. Aday responded by saying, 'I don't know, mom. I don't know.'"
The medical examiner later determined the girl died during the one-hour and 15-minute period when only Burt was home with her. Receipts and surveillance video proved Aday was away at the Walmart. She's now charged as an accessory to Burt's crime for going along with the house cleaning lie.
"From a historical standpoint, it is unusual for prosecutors to go for the death penalty in a case like this," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said.
Sheaffer says the aggravators that would allow the death penalty in this case changed in recent years to include the victim's young age, she was just three, burt's custodial/parental relationship to her, and a history of abuse. They're aggravators similar to those found in the murder case against Casey Anthony.
Burt served honorably for 20 years in the Army, but now he is locked up without bond in the Seminole County jail.
WFTV
