Lady Lake man charged in baby daughter's 2017 bathtub death goes to trial

TAVARES — Jeremy Main, who reportedly called his wife at work and said, “You’re going to have a bad day,” goes on trial this week.

He's charged with killing their baby girl before that phone call to spite her for seeking a divorce.

Main told authorities, “I ruined my life,” but if prosecutors have their way, his life will be shortened by an executioner on death row.

'She was no longer with us'

Main’s wife, Holly Farrington, recalled in her deposition asking him why she was going to have a bad day on Oct. 9, 2017.

“And he went to telling me how he tried to kill himself. You know, he tried to kill himself like his dad, and that he’d tried to slit his wrists, but he was unsuccessful," Farrington said. "But that he was successful in that he was going to give me my divorce, but that I wouldn’t have Makenzie, that she was no longer with us.”

'You're going to have a bad day': Woman recalls chilling phone call when ex-husband said he killed baby

Previously: Cops: Man killed toddler over divorce

Farrington called 911. Lake County sheriff’s deputies rushed to the home on Redbud Road in Lady Lake, kicked in the door, and were horrified by what they saw. The 17-month-old child, who was wearing a diaper, was floating face down in the bathtub.

“Throughout 20 years, you think you’ve seen the worst of the worst, then you see something like this, and you wonder what would take a person’s humanity to do something like that,” LCSO Lt. Fred Jones said at the time. “It’s hard on the detectives down there, hard on the crime scene investigators, the road patrol guys. We are all mothers and fathers, and it impacts us.”

Picking a jury

The nature of the crime will impact the jury pool, too. That’s why the clerk of court’s office sent out jury summons to 950 people.

By Tuesday afternoon, jury management had a workable list of 474 possible jurors.

It could take three or more days to select the 12-member jury and a few alternates. The trial could end up taking three weeks to complete. Fifth Circuit Judge James Baxley is presiding.

In case you missed it: Lady Lake man indicted in drowning of baby daughter

The state has listed four statutory death penalty aggravators, factors of the crime that lend themselves to a harsher sentence: the crime was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel; it was cold, calculated and premeditated, the victim was younger than 12; and she was especially vulnerable because Main was in a position of familial authority.

Among the potential jurors that will be dismissed are those who are morally opposed to the death penalty.

Assistant State Attorney Ryan Williams will be arguing for the ultimate punishment.

Main, who is now 43 years old, did not help his case.

He drove to a Sumter County Sheriff’s Office substation in The Villages and told two non-law enforcement officers at the front desk: “I killed my daughter and failed to kill myself.”

He later told a Lake County detective that he had made “a big mistake” and that he had “ruined” his life. He had superficial cuts on his wrists when he was handcuffed.

A look at the case

The state has also listed two jail-house informants among its witnesses.

John Spivey, executive assistant public defender, will argue that it is a case of aggravated manslaughter, or culpable negligence, and not first-degree murder.

Among his witnesses will be an engineer who concluded in his report, “It is biomechanically feasible that Makenzie Main climbed into the bathtub independently.”

Mental health experts have also been consulted.

Related: What drove a Florida millionaire to kill his wife, twin 7-year-old sons?

Farrington’s statements have been gut-wrenching.

She said she never dreamed that there was a ticking time bomb behind the warm Facebook pictures, the little swing set in the back yard and neighbors seeing him pushing his daughter in a stroller.

She said she knew he was an “underachiever” when they married in July 2015, and soon learned that he was controlling and paranoid.

The weekend before Makenzie died, Farrington took her to Cocoa Beach.

She said Main told her: “You know, I can’t believe I messed up and lost the most important thing in the world.”

“You know, you really haven’t,” Farrington said she replied. “I shouldn’t be the most important thing in the world, you know. She should be.”

He replied: “You know, you really don’t know me, do you?”

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Jeremy Main murder trial: Lady Lake man charged in daughter's death