MANSFIELD — Alex Morris, 31, was charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, child endangering (two counts) and permitting child abuse in a 2-year-old case in Richland County.
Morris was indicted by a Richland County grand jury in June. Richland County Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher met with media on Thursday to go over recent grand jury activity.
Morris was taken into custody without incident at a home in the 2800 block of Township Road 164 in Cardington on June 25.
The arrest was carried out by the U.S. Marshals-led Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, which said he was charged with the 2024 death of his 3-year-old child.
Schumacher said the investigation began on Mother’s Day in May 2024 when Mansfield police responded to the death of a 3-year-old child on Sherman Place.
While initial reports indicated the child died from choking, investigators later determined through an autopsy the death was likely a homicide. They identified Morris, the child’s father, as the suspect.
Schumacher said the official cause of death could not be determined, but said medical experts determined the child suffered brain injuries from “significant trauma.”
“The physical injuries (didn’t match) the verbal recitation (from Morris) that we were provided,” Schumacher said.
A one-month child in the home also suffered “non-accidental injuries,” which led to the second child endangering charge, the prosecutor said. She said that child recovered.
