Man pleads innocent in death of 14-month-old Warren girl

The girl received a fatal blow to the head.

WARREN — Fourteen-month old Destiny N. Seybert died of head injuries, but Jamie A. Champlin will not face the death penalty because he’s not accused of killing her intentionally, an assistant prosecutor said.

Champlin, 27, of 173 Royal Mall Drive in the Royal Mall Apartments in Niles, pleaded innocent in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday to murder and endangering children. His bond was continued at $750,000, and he remains in Trumbull County Jail.

Michael Burnett, an assistant county prosecutor, said the murder charge accuses him of killing the girl as a result of assaulting her and causing blunt force trauma to her head.

He’s also charged with endangering children because he wa s the child’s guardian at the time she was assaulted. Champlin was alone with the girl, baby-sitting her, at the time, Burnett said.

The girl was the daughter of his live-in girlfriend, Jennifer Kuhn.

To charge Champlin with a crime that would have made him eligible for the death penalty, police would need to show that Champlin intentionally killed the girl, Burnett said.

The assistant prosecutor refused to say whether any type of instrument was used to injure the child’s head or otherwise describe the method used to injure her. The girl did have bruises on her body, but they were not life-threatening, he said.

If convicted, Champlin could be sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.

Niles Police Chief Bruce Simeone said the girl died Sept. 20 after being taken to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital on Sept. 18 and then to Akron Children’s Hospital on Sept. 20.

The cause of death has not yet been issued by the Summit County Coroner’s office.

runyan@vindy.com