Father of Ohio child found weeks-dead pleads not guilty, insanity
By Kim Palmer
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio man charged with leaving the decomposing body of his 18-month-old daughter in a crib surrounded by garbage entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday, according to Medina County court documents.
Eric Warfel, 35 was charged with one count of abuse of a corpse after a cable installer discover the body of Ember Warfel late last month in his apartment south of Cleveland. She had been dead for at least a month.
Prosecutors added a tampering with evidence charge, also a felony and set bond at $1 million. They said they expect more charges once a cause of death for the child is determined.
Police found cocaine in the motel room where Warfel had been living before the discovery of his daughter. Drug possession and endangering children charges are expected, according to prosecutors.
Police are also looking into the 2013 death of Warfel's 5-month-old child whose cause of death was ruled undetermined by a Cuyahoga County medical examiner.
Warfel will receive a psychological evaluation and Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Collier set a pretrial date for Nov. 5 and a trial date for Nov. 9.
(Editing by Fiona Ortiz)
