Man on trial in Keene toddler’s death describes weekend at apartment

Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene.

Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene as the case against Annthoni Bliss moves toward its next phase. The 24-year-old from Lyndeborough is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 23-month-old Luca Hudson, whose death in January 2024 was ruled a homicide by the state Medical Examiner’s Office after blunt force trauma.

Bliss took the witness stand Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and told jurors he never hurt Luca and does not know how the child was injured. He said he had only recently begun dating Luca’s mother, Lydia Marrotte of Keene, at the end of December 2023 and quickly became a frequent presence in the home shared by Marrotte and her two sons, including Luca’s 4-year-old brother.

According to Bliss, the relationship was calm and without conflict, and he enjoyed being around the children. He also told the jury that he has a son close in age to Luca. He said Marrotte remained the primary caregiver and that he did not try to replace her or take control of parenting decisions.

Most of Bliss’s testimony focused on the weekend before Luca was taken to the hospital. He said he was alone with the boys twice in Marrotte’s apartment. On Friday evening, Jan. 12, while Marrotte went to Manchester for a tattoo, he said he stayed behind with the children, played with them, watched television, bathed them and put them to bed. He gave a similar account for part of the next day, when Marrotte later left him with the boys for about an hour after they were already asleep.

Bliss said the first signs of trouble came late Saturday night, around 11:30 p.m., when he heard what sounded like vomiting from the boys’ bedroom. About two hours later, he said, Marrotte checked on the room and noticed a smell of vomit before going to shower. He testified that he then heard crying, found Luca covered in vomit and upset, and carried him to his mother in the bathroom.

While the adults cleaned him up, Bliss said Luca appeared to be in pain and that his head felt squishy, something he said he immediately brought to Marrotte’s attention because it seemed wrong. Marrotte had told the jury earlier in the trial that she did not know Luca had suffered a head injury and only saw vomiting and complaints of a headache.

Bliss said the adults stayed awake with Luca through the night while he remained responsive, played at times and seemed uncomfortable. He said Marrotte put him back in bed around 6 a.m. Sunday. Later that morning, Bliss testified, he heard a strange noise from the boys’ room while getting breakfast for Luca’s brother. He said he found Luca stiff in the crib, carried him to Marrotte, who was sleeping, and then called 911 with her permission. He said the call came roughly 30 seconds after he reached the crib.

After police arrived, Bliss said he cooperated, spoke with investigators several times in January, and turned over his phone and password. He also told jurors that he later deleted search history related to the symptoms he had observed, but disclosed that deletion to police when he handed over the device. He said he had searched terms including toddler hit head, though he insisted he did not have one specific incident in mind and said Luca often bumped his head while playing.

The trial has also centered on earlier false statements. Bliss acknowledged that he and Marrotte initially gave police an inaccurate account of who was in the apartment with the boys before Luca’s hospitalization. He said Wednesday that he chose to lie and now regrets doing so, explaining that he believed it would help Marrotte. Prosecutors emphasized that Marrotte did not threaten him or pressure him into making the false statement. He later corrected the record in an interview on Jan. 25, 2024.

Jurors also heard about a separate mistake involving the timing of a FaceTime call with Bliss’s sister. Police said he first described being on the call for about an hour and a half on Jan. 13, when he was alone with the children, but phone records showed the call actually took place on Jan. 6 and lasted about 10 minutes. Bliss said the discrepancy came from faulty memory nearly a year later.

He also testified that after the end of January and before his next contact from police in December, he left the Keene area because of death threats and feared being seen in public.

The case began Oct. 26 and is now in its seventh day.