Teenage daughter testifies about finding mother's body in Lockport murder trial – Shaw Local

A 15-year-old girl testified in a murder trial Tuesday that she was the first to learn of her mother's death four years ago in Lockport.

The daughter of Ashtin Eaton, 32, said she was 11 years old when she found her mother in her apartment in the 900 block of South Hamilton Street on the morning of Oct. 2, 2020.

Eaton's daughter cried as she told a Will County jury what happened that morning.

Eaton's daughter said on Oct. 1, 2020, she was sitting in her bedroom listening to music on her iPad when she fell asleep around 11 p.m. She said she was a “deep sleeper” and didn’t hear any noises while sleeping.

The girl told the court she woke up around 8:45 a.m. on October 2, 2020 and left her room to look for her mother in her bedroom, but only saw her little sister Hazel Bryant surrounded by blankets lay on the bed.

“I thought she was cooking breakfast,” Eaton’s daughter said of her mother.

The daughter said she went into the kitchen and saw her mother lying on the floor with blood on her arms. She said her mother's face looked blue and purple.

“I touched her breast,” Eaton’s daughter said.

However, Eaton did not move or respond. Her daughter said she noticed a box cutter knife next to her mother's body that she had never seen before. Eaton's daughter said she then grabbed her iPad and FaceTimed her grandparents, who told her to call 911.

Eaton's grandparents, Shirley and Russ Onderisin, testified that Eaton's daughter told them, “Mommy's not breathing.”

When the grandparents arrived at the apartment and saw Eaton's body, Shirley Onderisin said she went into Eaton's bedroom and got Bryant off the bed, but the child did not move.

Shirley Onderisin remembered saying, “Wake up, baby, wake up.” The grandparents would find out that Hazel Bryant was also dead.

While a cut on Eaton's wrist made it appear as if she died by suicide, prosecutors claim the scene was staged to appear that way. Will County Assistant Prosecutor James Zanayed told jurors that Eaton was actually strangled.

“Nothing at the crime scene suggests that she could have done this herself,” Zanayed said.

Prosecutors alleged that Eaton and Bryant were killed by Anthony Maggio, 30, of Crestwood, who is in court this week on charges that he strangled Eaton to death. He is also accused of smothering Bryant, his daughter.

Eaton's 15-year-old daughter is not Maggio's child. Eaton's daughter and Shirley Onderisin said they did not see Maggio at the hospital when Byrant was born.

Maggio was a former probationary firefighter and paramedic for the city of Cicero until he was fired in 2021 for “unsatisfactory character” and “willful” failure to provide “required information,” according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request were received.

Prosecutors alleged that Maggio was motivated to kill Eaton and his daughter because he did not want to pay child support for Bryant, who was his third child. They said Maggio had two other children with another woman.

Zanayed told a jury Tuesday that Maggio was afraid of losing his job as a firefighter paramedic and complained that he was in heavy debt. Zanayed also said Maggio's DNA was found at the crime scene.

Maggio's attorney, Michael Clancy, said Maggio's DNA was the only evidence that he was in Lockport and that he was with Eaton about 10 days before her death.

“DNA has no time stamp,” Clancy said.

Clancy said DNA that could not be identified was found under Eaton's fingernails, on her shirt and on the box cutter. Clancy argued that Maggio also had the financial support of his father and his fiancée in caring for Bryant.