Niles man who faced a murder charge in the February 2017 death of his infant daughter pleaded guilty to a lesser charge

Staff report

WARREN

A Niles man who faced a murder charge in the February 2017 death of his infant daughter pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

Matthew Wilson, 33, of Niles, accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty Friday to one amended first-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter before Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors chose not to pursue his other indicted counts of felonious assault and endangering children.

Records show Wilson waived his right to a pre-sentence investigation, and he was sentenced immediately to nine years in prison, as recommended by both attorneys. If convicted on his indicted murder charge, Wilson would have faced 15 years to life. The other two charges each carried up to eight-year penalties.

According to Akron Children’s Hospital personnel who treated 5-week-old Aubrianna Wilson after the Feb. 10 incident, the infant suffered brain bleeds and rib fractures and suggested the infant was abused, possibly by “being shaken or squeezed.”

Wilson previously said he tripped and accidentally fell on the infant on at their Bellair Court home, according to Wilson’s father, Charles Wilson of Minerva.

He was remanded to the Trumbull County jail following the plea hearing Friday.