Woman accused of fatally poisoning adopted son
Nov. 10—A Cochranton-area woman is in jail on a homicide charge, accused by Pennsylvania State Police at Meadville with fatally poisoning her adopted handicapped son over Labor Day weekend.
Police allege Mary Eileen Diehl, 62, killed Najir William Diehl, 11, by poison at their home at 7621 Mallard Road in East Fairfield Township. Police said the younger Diehl was Diehl's adopted son.
The case has been subject to investigation for the past several months, Paula DiGiacomo, first assistant district attorney for Crawford County, said Tuesday. Najir Diehl was a handicapped boy who wasn't ambulatory on his own.
Diehl was taken into custody Monday and charged with criminal homicide following an interview at the state police barracks in Vernon Township, DiGiacomo said. She declined comment to the Tribune on a possible motive in the case.
DiGiacomo did tell the Tribune that a second child residing inside the Diehl home, a girl, was unharmed and is in the care of other Diehl relatives following Mary Diehl's arrest.
"State police have been working hard on the case and as a result of their further investigation yesterday (Monday), they then had probable cause to believe she (Diehl) should be charged with first-degree homicide — intentional killing," DiGiacomo said.
Police initially were called to the Diehl home in East Fairfield Township at 10:17 a.m. Sept. 6 — the Labor Day holiday — after Najir was found deceased in his bed at the home by Mary Diehl, state police said. The home is located about five miles north of Cochranton.
A copy of the criminal complaint filed by state police and obtained by the Tribune alleges Diehl "did on our about September 5, 2021, with malice, premeditation and the specific intent to kill, did have the care dependent victim ingest poison for the purposes of causing his death."
The complaint puts the timeframe of the alleged poisoning between 8:30 p.m. Sept. 5 and 10:11 a.m. Sept. 6.
Blood tests results for Najir Diehl indicated poison in the child's blood, according to a news release issued by state police, but the release did not indicate what type of alleged poison was found.
Crawford County Coroner Scott Schell said Najir Diehl was handicapped and had health issues.
However, toxicology testing was done on the child following his death, Schell said. Toxicology testing is the sampling of tissue, blood and other body fluids to identify potential toxins in the body, including prescription medication and other drugs and substances.
The toxicology test results then led to additional tests being conducted, according to Schell. The additional test results were received from NMS Labs, a forensic testing laboratory, on Oct. 28. The results were reviewed by Dr. Eric Vey at the request of the Crawford County Coroner's Office and state police, Schell said.
Vey, a forensic pathologist with the Erie County Coroner's Office, conducts autopsies for Crawford County under contract with the Crawford County Coroner's Office.
Diehl was arraigned Tuesday morning on a single count of criminal homicide before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino of Meadville.
Pendolino ordered Diehl held without bond in the Crawford County Correctional Facility, Saegertown, following arraignment. Under Pennsylvania law, homicide is a non-bondable offense.
Diehl currently is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on the homicide charge Nov. 23 before Magisterial District Judge Amy Nicols of Titusville. Online court records indicate Diehl had not retained an attorney as of Tuesday.
Under Pennsylvania law, if a person is convicted of first-degree murder, it carries a sentence of life in prison or, possibly, the death penalty.
Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
