Months after a judge postponed a capital murder trial once a jury was seated and opening arguments were set to begin again, a North Fort Myers man accused in the brutal death of a toddler is again set to face a judge.
Nicholas Canfield, 29, faces one count of capital first-degree murder; one count of sexual battery on a child younger than 12; and three counts of aggravated child abuse.
The postponed capital murder trial was set to begin Monday with jury selection. However, on Wednesday, Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle OK'd a motion filed the same day by public defender Kathleen Smith.
According to the motion, Smith said a relative of hers died July 16, making her unavailable starting this week.
Canfield's trial began Jan. 29 with jury selection, but was postponed Feb. 7 after a jury had already been seated. Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle briefly called in jurors, and said the trial would be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. He did not specify the factors that led to the postponement at the time.
Canfield's counsel on Nov. 28 filed a motion challenging the new death penalty guidelines, which allow juries to recommend death in an 8-4 vote. Kyle denied that motion Jan. 28.
Before the bill took effect April 20, 2023, all 12 jurors had to unanimously find at least one death-penalty aggravating factor existed during deliberations in the guilt phase of the trial.
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The State Attorney’s Office filed on Nov. 23, 2020, a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Canfield.
A Lee County grand jury indicted Canfield on Oct. 23, 2020, in the death of 2-year-old Jaliyah Ramos.
The toddler died April 29, 2020. Rescue workers were called to the Ramos' home six days earlier, where they found her unresponsive.
Lee County deputies arrested Canfield on April 30, 2020. He has been jailed since.
In May 2020, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said two of the three children in the home showed signs of injury and called the situation "pure evil." Officials called him the children's "caretaker."
Canfield's indictment said the crimes happened on one or more occasions between March 1, 2020, and April 29, 2020, and included a male child.
Kyle has set an Aug. 14 status hearing in the case.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.
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