Bacorn convicted in teenager's death

May 15—MERCER — After about an hour of deliberations, a jury found Paul Alexander Bacorn guilty on all charges Friday in the 2019 beating and starvation death of 14-year-old Antonio Juan Gonzalez Jr.

The boy's father, Antonio Juan Gonzalez Sr., pleaded guilty April 24, 2020, to first-degree murder and has been sentenced to life in prison.

Bacorn, 30, Delaware Township, will be sentenced July 6. He was found guilty on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy to commit those crimes and tampering with evidence. First-degree murder carries a possible sentence of life in prison.

During closing arguments Friday, defense attorney David Wenger told the jury that the commonwealth produced no evidence to prove that Bacorn took part in or knew about the abuse dealt upon Antonio Jr. by his father.

"(Bacorn) cares about people and he's not evil," Wenger said.

Wenger told the story from Bacorn's point of view.

He said on Oct. 24, 2019, Antonio Jr. died of hypovolemic shock. A forensic pathologist testified that he died of internal bleeding from repeated beatings and starvation, used as a punishment, was a contributing factor. The boy weighed only 70 pounds when he died.

Wenger said Bacorn gave a consistent account of Antonio Jr.'s death to police. The prosecution disagreed.

Bacorn told police in an interview that on the day of Antonio Jr.'s death, he woke up in the middle of the night as Gonzalez Sr. beat his son. Bacorn said he saw the father spraying the son with a hose. The boy then tried to get up and fell, hitting his head on a concrete block.

Antonio Sr. dragged the boy into the trailer on a tarp and left him lying on the floor in pain. The father then left for Walmart in Greenville. While he was gone for about 90 minutes, Bacorn sat on the bed playing on his phone, and logged the boy onto his cyber school website at 7:50 a.m.

"He didn't call for help," Wenger said. "He should've done more."

Gonzalez Sr. returned home and tells Bacorn that "it's not good," referring to his son's well-being or "he's not breathing," Wenger said.

Bacorn said he left because he didn't want the 4-year-old to see what was happening, but the prosecution said Bacorn left because he knew he was going to be in trouble.

"He's not running from anything," Wenger said. "He removed a child from a horrific scene."

Before Bacorn left, Gonzalez Sr. gave him a bag that contained weapons — brass knuckles, a broken table leg and a broken bat — that prosecutors said had been used to beat Antonio Jr. The items, which were entered into evidence, had the boy's DNA on them.

Wenger said Bacorn moved in with the Gonzalez' in 2016 because the family needed help around the house and Antonio Sr. needed help watching the children.

Wenger said Bacorn admitted that he had seen Gonzalez Sr. smack the boy around and said that the father inflicted extreme punishment on his son. The prosecution said the boy was denied food, and his father sometimes punished Antonio Jr. by forcing him to stand for hours with his arms against a wall.

Wenger said when the family moved to Mercer County in July 2019, Bacorn did not live in the same building as the family and the father beat up his son while Bacorn was sleeping. He said the actions taken against the boy were solely by Gonzalez Sr. and there was no evidence that Bacorn injured the teenager.

"At no point do they have evidence that he knew this was happening," Wenger said. "Do not hold him responsible for the acts of someone else."

Assistant District Attorney Jacob Sander made the closing argument for the prosecution. He said Bacorn implicated himself by his own words.

"This is a story of neglect, abuse and starvation," Sander said. "Paul Bacorn is one of the antagonists."

Sander said Bacorn was Gonzalez Sr.'s accomplice.

"By his own words he's putting himself at the scene, showing he's an accomplice," Sander said.

Sander said there were inconsistencies in Bacorn's story in his two interviews with state police.

"In his first interview, (Bacorn) says he didn't see Sr. beat Jr.," Sander said. "In the second, he said right away, 'he beat him with everything he could find.'"

Sander said Bacorn was trying to distance himself because he had been caught, and that, in his second interview with police, Bacorn tried to shift the blame onto Gonzalez Sr.

Sander accused Bacorn of seeing more than he admitted. Bacorn, the prosecutor said, was aware of the types of punishments, such as food deprivation, Gonzalez Sr. inflicted on his son.

Finally, Sander said Bacorn did nothing when he was left alone with the dying boy.

Prosecution testimony included a video, taken just four days before Antonio Jr.'s death, of Gonzalez Sr. beating the boy. Sander said that Bacorn is in the beginning of the video, setting up the camera, and can be seen walking in and out of view several times.

Sander reminded the jury of expert testimony by forensic pathologist Dr. Eric Vey, who reported 219 individual, identifiable injuries, including cigarette burns and ligature marks, on Antonio Jr.'s body.

"His death was prolonged and suffering," Sander said. "(Bacorn) sees the abuse. He's the accomplice. He doesn't care."

Attorneys for the defense and commonwealth refused to comment after the trial, due to a previously issued gag order that will expire after Bacorn's sentencing hearing.

Follow Melissa Klaric on Twitter and Facebook @HeraldKlaric, email: mklaric@sharonherald.com