Dayton man found guilty in murder of Mansfield couple, unborn child
A Dayton man was found guilty of murder Thursday for the November 2019 shooting deaths of a Mansfield man, his girlfriend and their unborn fetus.
A Montgomery County jury found Larry Rodgers guilty of the murder of Todd Burkhart and Kyla Hayton and her unborn child, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office.
The case made headlines on Nov. 18, 2019, when Todd Burkhart and Kyla Hayton were reported missing. The couple lived in Mansfield, but Ashland was the hometown for both of them.
A Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office spokesman said Rodgers was found guilty of all charges and specifications levied against him.
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His sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 11 in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, according to information from the Prosecutor's Office said.
Court records show Rodgers was found guilty of:
Two counts kidnapping (felony or flight), first-degree felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts kidnapping (terrorize or serious physical harm), first-degree felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts felonious assault (deadly weapon), second-degree felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts felonious assault (serious physical harm), second-degree felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts aggravated murder (while committing kidnapping felony or flight), unclassified felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts aggravated murder (kidnapping terrorize serious physical harm), unclassified felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts of murder (proximate result felonious assault deadly weapon), unclassified felony, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Two counts of murder (proximate result felonious assault serious physical harm), unclassified felonies, with a three-year gun specification on each count
Involuntary manslaughter (proximate result felonious assault deadly weapon), first-degree felony, three-year gun specification on each count
Involuntary manslaughter (proximate result felonious assault serious physical harm), first-degree felony, three-year gun specification on each count
Having weapons while under disability (prior offense of violence), third-degree felony.
The West Fifth Street couple had left their 4-year-old daughter, Ariella, with Hayton's mother in Columbus, the News Journal reported in 2019.
At the time, Courtney Burkhart, Burkhart's sister, had told police she heard Todd Burkhart was delivering a package in Columbus and was going to buy an AR-15 assault rifle, according to an article in the Ashland Times-Gazette.
Todd Burkhart's body was found Nov. 22, 2019, inside an abandoned house at 900 W. Stewart St., Dayton. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to autopsy results.
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The body of Hayton, who was five months pregnant, was found Nov. 25, 2019, inside an abandoned house at 910 W. Stewart St., Dayton, according to Montgomery County Coroner Kent H. Harshbarger.
Hayton, 20, died of multiple gunshot wounds on Nov. 16, the same day Burkhart, 28, was shot to death, the coroner said.
Investigators located spent casings at both scenes, and ballistic tests determined both victims were fatally shot with the same firearm.
Early in the investigation, Rodgers, 31, was identified as a person of interest in the shootings, according to the prosecutor's news release.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
Twitter: @LWhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Dayton man guilty in murder of Mansfield couple, their unborn child
