400-Pound Man Who Crushed Grandson To Death Found Not Guilty
MOUNT ORAB, Ohio (CBS Local) -- A 400-pound man, who plead guilty to killing his 11-year-old grandson when he laid on top of him, has been cleared by a judge.
Donald "Jake" Martin, Jr., 58, told authorities he laid on top of his grandson, Dylan Martin-Davis, to try to calm him down during a tantrum last November. The child was diagnosed as autistic and reportedly had several behavioral disorders.
Dylan died of asphyxiation.
Martin pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in April, but withdrew the plea in June. His lawyer, Bruce Wallace, says Martin made the initial guilty plea to avoid the trauma of putting his family through a contentious trial.
Brown County Judge Scott Gusweiler found Martin not guilty this week, saying there's no evidence that he knew that he would cause serious harm to his grandchild by laying on him.
The boy's father, Sam Davis, called the ruling a "nightmare," but says he has not decided whether to pursue a civil case.
Dylan's mother reportedly had custody of him, but she had left him in his grandparents' care at their Mount Orab home in southwest Ohio.