Washington County man found not guilty in baby's death

A Washington County man who was facing a potential death sentence if convicted of killing his infant son was instead, on Thursday, found not guilty.

Joshua George, 35, left the courthouse a free man after the jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes.

The verdict, some say, bolsters the claims of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, which accuses District Attorney Jason Walsh of improperly seeking the death penalty.

Over the summer, the center filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court seeking to restrict Walsh’s use of potential capital punishment, alleging that he uses it too often and in an attempt to coerce plea agreements and to earn political capital.

“The very quick acquittal of Joshua George in a capital jury trial in Washington County was predictable and shocking at the same time,” said Marc Bookman, legal director for the Atlantic Center. “Predictable because the evidence against Mr. George was appallingly weak — no reasonable jury would have convicted. Shocking because District Attorney Jason Walsh decided to seek the death penalty in a case where guilt, itself, was so much at issue.”

But Walsh, who took office in 2021 and won his own election in 2023, said the criminal justice system worked this week.

“We disagree with it, but we respect the jury’s decision,” he said Friday. “Beyond a reasonable doubt is a high burden. I guess the jury didn’t find we proved it beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Walsh has previously justified his use of potential capital punishment, arguing that it is entirely within the discretion of the district attorney.

As long as there is at least one aggravating circumstance in a case, Walsh has said, it is within his prerogative to seek the death penalty.

In George’s case, the aggravator was that the victim was only 6 months old.

“The capital [punishment] was sought based simply on the age of the child,” Walsh said. “It has nothing to do with the evidence.

”That has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.”

George was charged after his son, Oliver, died on Jan. 3, 2022.

According to court filings, Oliver was left in George’s care the morning of Dec. 30, 2021. When the baby’s mother left for work, she said he was fine.

Later that morning, George took the baby to a family member to be watched for the day while he worked. It was there, police said, where Oliver started to show symptoms.

He was taken to Weirton Hospital and later flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he died a few days later. He died from blunt force trauma to the head.

According to court records, Oliver had a skull fracture, bleeding on his brain and bruising to his left upper eye and right ear and retinal hemorrhages.

Walsh said he charged George, among other reasons, because the night before, he told another person that he was going to shake the baby.

“Dad says he’s going to shake him, and a day later, he’s shaken,” Walsh said. “That’s premeditation.”

In a statement released Friday, George’s defense attorneys, Stanley T. Booker and Melanie F. Womer, said their client has maintained his innocence from the beginning.

“We are relieved and grateful that the jury saw the truth,” said Booker. “It is now clear that Mr. George had no involvement in this heartbreaking crime.”

Still, the statement continued, George spent nearly four years incarcerated on the charges awaiting trial.

“While the verdict exonerates Mr. George, it does not undo the immense harm and suffering he has endured, nor the pain felt by all of Oliver’s family,” the statement said. “Tragically, the true perpetrator remains at large.”

Walsh said the case was thoroughly investigated, and it is now closed.

“That’s our system,” he said. “And we work with it everyday.”