TIFFIN — The North Baltimore man who allegedly killed a baby he abducted has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jonathan L. Baker, North Baltimore, appeared in the courtroom of Seneca County Common Pleas Judge Damon Alt on Wednesday, where he entered the NGRI plea.

Baker has been charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping, according to a joint indictment announced in July 2023 by the Wood and Seneca county prosecutors.

Baker allegedly crashed his car into a Tiffin house on June 27, 2023, while trying to flee from police.

It was initially believed that the 7-month-old girl, who was abducted from a North Baltimore home, died of injuries sustained in the crash, but the autopsy determined she had been shot twice.

The incident started with the Wood County Sheriff’s Office sending out an alert after Baker allegedly took the child in North Baltimore while reportedly armed with a gun.

He reportedly contacted the child’s mother and told her he was feeling homicidal and suicidal and claimed he had killed the child.

Tiffin Police Chief David Pauly said an off-duty city officer spotted the vehicle and alerted department officials. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but Baker sped up before driving off the road and through the front yard of a home. He then crashed into another residence, knocking it off its foundation.

Law enforcement officers broke out the car’s back window to get the infant, who was bleeding from the head and had “labored breathing,”

The child and Baker were both taken to a hospital, where the infant died a short time later.

The case will be prosecuted in Seneca County by prosecutors representing both Wood and Seneca counties.

Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McDonald said Thursday that experts for the state and the defense have declared Baker competent to stand trial. The argument is whether he was insane when he allegedly committed the offense.

His trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 30, was confirmed.