The two will be sentenced at a March 25 hearing. They are being held without bond until the sentencing.
The maximum penalty for permitting child abuse is 11 to 16½ years in prison, along with a $20,000 fine. The parents had originally been indicted on two counts of murder, and one count each of second-degree felonious assault, second-degree felony endangering children and first-degree felony permitting child abuse.
According to the indictment, Seiker and Jennings caused the death of the infant as part of “a continuous course of conduct” between Aug. 25, 2023, and Dec. 29, 2023, in Clark and Greene counties.
Braxton Eugene Jennings, listed as 4 months old, died Dec. 29, 2023, due to blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. His death is classified as a homicide.
The infant died at Dayton Children’s Hospital, according to the Greene County Coroner’s Office.
In a letter to the judge in late January asking for probation, Jennings wrote that “my baby boy was a miracle baby and I just couldn’t ever bring myself to a point of ever hurting him.”
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