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UTAH STATE PRISON — David Matthew Ayotte, who is serving a prison sentence for killing his 2-month-old son 18 years ago, has been granted an earlier parole date.
Ayotte was scheduled to be paroled in 2022 when he went before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in September to ask them to consider an earlier release. This week, board members granted his request, moving up his parole date to Jan. 21, 2020.
"The parole date is contingent on complying with his case action plan and required treatment programs," said board spokesman Greg Johnson.
Once he is released, Ayotte will be required to have no contact with his ex-wife and mother of their deceased child, Yvette Maynard, or her family. He also is not allowed to have any unsupervised contact with children under age 14 without written authorization from Ault Probation and Parole.
In September 2000, Ayotte was 26 when he held his 2-month-old son, Spencer, by the back of the neck and shook him until he went limp because the boy wouldn't stop crying. An autopsy also revealed that Spencer had been subjected to abuse on at least three other occasions during his short life.
The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office discovered Spencer had 15 fractured ribs, a bruise on the inside of his scalp, many tears in his brain tissue and severe bleeding on the surface of his brain.
In its decision, the board said it "recognizes and commends Mr. Ayotte for his rehabilitative life skills and education efforts and achievements."
The board also considered a petition filed by Ayotte and his attorney that outlines information that was never brought up during trial or his original parole hearing in 2010. Those mitigating factors that were never presented included arguments regarding the medication that Ayotte was on at the time of the murder.
Read more:
'I have learned to despise my actions': Man who killed infant son 18 years ago seeks parole
A man who violently shook his 2-month-old son to death 18 years ago is seeking an early parole.According to the petition, "David was taking a changing regimen of medications that may well have contributed to and even partially fomented his criminal conduct," the petition states.
Ayotte had long struggled with weight loss, according to the petition. In 1997, he was prescribed "Phentermine and Prozac for (his) weight issues and depression. David started experiencing side effects of emotional hysteria and ceased taking these drugs after approximately a week," the petition states.
But in 2000, Ayotte again began "taking Phentermine HCL for weight control and Efexor XR for the depression and anxiety. David experienced side effects including intermittent surges of euphoria, rage, extreme depression, suicidality and hallucinatory confusion and believes he was becoming addicted to the Phentermine (an amphetamnie)," according to the petition.
Five days before the child's death, Ayotte called his doctor asking for help. The doctor wasn't available, but a nurse advised him to stop taking Effexor XR and begin taking Celexa, the petition states.
"David experienced even more emotional and mental side effects. Spencer died as a result of David's actions four days later," according to the petition.
"The medication issue arguably mitigates the crime, particularly given how aberrant the crime was for David, who historically has made a lasting impression, primarily for being gentle and kind," the petition continues. "More importantly for the future, David's awareness of the medication issue contributes to a future with a low risk of violence."
Ayotte, now 44, has taken several treatment classes while in prison and uses meditation, exercise and religion to help him deal with his stress and anxiety. He now teaches many of the classes he has completed himself to other inmates.
