A grand jury handed up an indictment charging a Licking County man with murder in the death of his infant daughter.
Chance Topp, who authorities arrested in June in the October 2023 death of the infant girl, was indicted on July 3, according to Licking County Common Pleas Court records.
Topp faces murder, strangulation, two counts of endangering children, reckless homicide, and two counts of domestic violence, in addition to the involuntary manslaughter charges brought against him after his initial arrest.
Authorities spent nearly two years investigating the baby’s Oct. 13, 2023, death. The child was found unresponsive in a home on Crestview Drive in Utica that evening, according to the Licking County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the home, and the baby went to Licking Memorial Hospital with what the sheriff’s office would later describe as suspicious injuries. The baby died at the hospital.
Since the death, investigators have searched the home, conducted multiple interviews, done forensic testing and collected physical evidence, according to the sheriff’s office.
Topp is scheduled to make this next court appearance July 8 before Licking County Common Pleas Judge David Branstool. He remains in the Licking County Jail, according to records.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Grand jury charges Licking County man with murder in death of infant daughter
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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