A man from Ohio, who confessed to violently throwing a 15-month-old girl to the ground which eventually led to her death, altered his plea from not guilty due to insanity to simply guilty.
Michael Mayor, 34, changed his plea in a hearing on Thursday, according to WHIO.
Michael Mayor, aged 34, found himself in police custody weeks following the demise of baby Vivian Gardner in December 2024. Mayor’s spouse, providing babysitting services in the Piqua area, was responsible for the toddler when she entrusted her to Mayor’s care as she took other children to school on December 5, according to a report from CrimeOnline.
Upon returning, she initially thought the toddler was taking a nap; however, when the child hadn’t woken by 3 p.m., she dialed 911, describing the child as “pale, with head bruises of unknown origin,” as noted in a police statement.
The child was ultimately flown to Dayton Children’s Hospital for treatment, where a doctor said she had a fracture in the rear of her skull, a subdural hematoma, and other “complex” injuries that were caused by a “massive impact.”
She died on December 19.
In an interview, Mayor told detectives that the little girl wouldn’t stop crying when he was trying to put her down for a nap.
“He stated he ‘shook’ her and when she cried louder, he began to ‘slam’ her on the floor of the bedroom,” the police report said. “He stated this was not done on the blankets and he did this several times until she stopped crying.”
At that point, the report says, Mayor said he thought she had fallen alseep, so he walked away.
He was charged at that time with three counts of murder, felonious assault, and two counts of endangering children.
According to the plea deal, prosecutors dropped all but one count of murder, WHIO said. Sentencing has been set for August 5, and Mayor faces 15 years to life at that time, court records say.
