Man pleads guilty to felonious assault in baby’s beating

YOUNGSTOWN — A 19-year-old Campbell man has pleaded guilty to felonious assault in the brutal beating of a South Side baby.

Jerbrail Ghrim entered his plea this morning before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the July 17 beating of the 16-month-old Lucius Avenue baby.

The child, who was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital, was assaulted with a wire coat hanger, punched several times and held underwater in a bathtub, police reports said.

Ghrim, who is not related to the child, met the child’s mother two weeks before the beating, according to a family friend.

Natasha K. Frenchko, an assistant county prosecutor, recommended that Judge Krichbaum impose a four-year prison term on Ghrim when he is sentenced at 10 a.m. Dec. 2. The available sentencing range is two to eight years in prison.

Ghrim was arrested about a week after the beating following a routine traffic stop in Campbell. Judge Krichbaum revoked his bond this morning and he’ll remain jailed pending sentencing.