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Eric Warfel Charged: Ohio Father Charged After Infant’s Body Found Rotting In Crib

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 02:29 PST, Jul 31, 2015

Eric Warfel is being charged after his child’s body was found rotting in her crib.

According to NBC News, the Ohio father was arrested after a cable installer found the body of his baby girl severely decomposing in her crib while updating equipment at Warfel’s apartment complex at the 500 block of East Reagan Parkway in Medina. The infant’s body is believed to be that of Warfel’s 1-year-old daughter Ember Warfel, who would have turned two this October.

The Medina Police Department reports that the horrific discovery was made on Wednesday morning. The cable worker immediately notified the police, who then arrested Warfel at a shopping center in Westlake, Ohio. Eric had his 7-year-old daughter with him at the time of his arrest, who is now in the custody of her grandparents.

On Thursday, July 31, Eric, 34, was charged with abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony, and is being held on a $1 million bond. He reportedly told the police that his ex-wife, and the mother of his children, currently lives in New York and he placed bags of garbage in Ember’s room to mask the smell of her decomposing body. Additional charges are expected to follow once Ember’s autopsy, performed by the Cuyahoga County Coroner, results come back, explaining her cause of death.

“It’s a smell you never forget,” the Medina police chief said, fighting back tears.

In a video, Warfel can be seen at the Medina County jail standing before Magistrate Linda Leggett, who said Warfel had told police officers that Ember had died on or around June 18. According to the statement read by Leggett, Warfel did not call for emergency help or notify the police of his daughter’s death. Rather, he simply tried to conceal it.

According to the judge, Warfel and his ex-wife had another child that passed away in March 2013 in Cuyahoga County. The Associated Press reports the death was ruled as sudden unexplained infant death with with manner undetermined, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office. However, the discovery of Ember’s body has prompted the police to launch a further investigation into 5-month-old Erin Delynn Warfel’s death.

What punishment do you think Eric Warfel should receive? Leave your comments below.

[Photo via Twitter]

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