State grand jury to get involved in investigation of Edmond baby's death

Jacob “Jake” Ryan Hedger died in March, one day after he was taken by ambulance from his baby sitter's Edmond home. He was almost 9 months old.

“Any kind of action is an improvement over the last 10 months of nothing,” the baby's father, Zane Hedger, said Thursday. “So, yeah, I think that's a good thing.”

Jake's parents, Zane and Leah Hedger, have been critical of the Edmond Police Department's handling of the investigation.

Witnesses in the unsolved case will be subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury Jan. 31, The Oklahoman learned.

“If we're requested to testify, we'd jump at the chance,” Zane Hedger said.

Jake died from blunt force head trauma, according to an autopsy report. The medical examiner's office determined the death was a homicide.

Jake stopped breathing the afternoon of March 8. He had been with his baby sitter for about seven hours when she called 911, records show.

The baby sitter, Traci Kramer, 41, is the wife of Kevin Lee Kramer, a drug lab supervisor at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. He helped train Edmond police officers in 2004 and 2007, the OSBI said.

Legislators and others have raised concerns about whether Edmond police officials have handled the investigation differently from normal because of the OSBI connection. Zane Hedger in November said he wished another agency would take over.

Police defended the investigation, saying its integrity is of utmost importance to the department.