Ohio mother indicted in 'preventable homicide,' of nine-month-old girl, endangerment of two-year-old

COLUMBUS, OH - A Whitehall mother, 21-year-old Charity Dreyer, was indicted by a Columbus Grand Jury Friday on a raft of charges including murder in connection with the death of her nine-month-old girl and injuries suffered by her elder daughter, aged nearly two years old. 

The incident that led to Dreyer's indictment happened in September according to WBNS. with Whitehall Police officers responding to a home on September 23rd following a report of an unresponsive child. The officers provided life-saving care to nine-month-old A’Riyah Williams, but the child did not survive.
 

Whitehall mother indicted on murder charge following death of 9-month-old daughter Charity Dreyer is scheduled to be arraigned in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 4. https://t.co/bU5QGfP7Ol

— Lacey Crisp (@LaceyCrisp) October 30, 2024

Whitehall Police Deputy Chief Dan Kelso told reporters, "That's where the investigation started," adding that responding officers also found injuries on  Williams' two-year-old sister. "It's horrible, it's tragic, it's absolutely awful,” Kelso said. 

"The officers at the scene noticed visible bruising, visible marks on the children that weren't consistent with accidents or falls,” Kelso said.

Initially, Dreyer was arrested on charges of child abuse of her surviving child. However, the process to bring her case before the Grand Jury was in motion, and a month later her indictment came down. Kelso explained that a murder investigation like this sometimes takes time. 

"You have to have the entire case together before you're gonna present that to a grand jury,” Kelso told reporters. A coroner's ruling was needed to classify the baby's death as homicide, hospital records had to be gathered and witnesses interviewed. "Tracking down witnesses to interview, that's not always easy. People start disappearing once you do an investigation,” he added.

The coroner's autopsy findings of the baby's death were grim. The coroner identified the cause of death by homicide as blunt-force trauma to the head and also took note of blunt-force trauma to the abdomen from days before, facial bruising, and a milieu of respiratory viruses including COVID-19. 

The Columbus Dispatch noted the baby suffered a skull fracture and abdominal bleeding as well adding that Dreyer was being held on a suspected probation violation prior to her indictment. 

Kelso described the crime saying, "This is a preventable homicide, and I say that because people knew. Somebody knew something's going on with this child and mother, this didn't just happen out of the blue."

According to reports Dreyer is will be arraigned in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 4