Baker
TIFFIN — A jury found a North Baltimore man guilty of shooting and killing his daughter.
The four-day trial of Jonathan Baker, 24, ended Thursday in Seneca County.
The jury found Baker guilty of all charge, including aggravated murder and kidnapping.
Baker kidnapped his daughter from North Baltimore and crashed his car into a Tiffin house on June 27, 2023, while trying to flee from police.
The incident started with the Wood County Sheriff’s Office sending out an alert after Baker took the child while 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.”
It was initially believed that the 7-month-old girl died of injuries sustained in the crash, but the autopsy determined she had been shot twice.
The case was prosecuted in Seneca County by prosecutors representing both Wood and Seneca counties.
After Baker was found competent to stand trial, he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The aggravated murder charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison.
Seneca County Common Pleas Court Judge Damon Alt will sentence Baker on Oct 28.
