An inmate already serving time for Child Endangerment is now facing murder charges stemming from the same crime.
Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson announced that on Wednesday, Aug. 16, the Wood County Grand Jury issued an indictment against Gilbert John Michael Hughes, 40, for the murder of two-month-old SH.
Hughes is already serving a prison term for Child Endangerment in the same matter. It is alleged that, after he was convicted of Child Endangerment, the child succumbed to the injuries she sustained at his hands and died on Feb. 15, 2017.
Hughes was convicted in October, 2016 of the Child Endangerment charge and was sentenced by then-Wood County Common Pleas Judge Alan Mayberry to eight years in prison. He is still currently incarcerated at the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion.
Arraignment on the new charges will occur once arrangements have been made to bring him before a new Wood County judge.
Ohio law permits an individual tried and convicted of abuse charges to be charged with a homicide offense if the victim of the abuse later dies as a result of the injuries sustained.
Murder is an unspecified felony, subjecting a defendant to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
