PIQUA — The man accused of slamming a 15-month-old girl on the floor, leading to her death has been charged with murder.
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Michael Mayor was charged with three counts of murder, according to a superseding indictment filed on Monday. He was already facing endangering children and felonious assault charges.
The charges are in connection to the death of Vivian Gardner.
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On Dec. 5, Gardner had been left with Mayor while her babysitter took some children to school. While the babysitter was gone, Mayor had reportedly tried to put the girl for a nap on the bedroom floor. When she got back, the girl was on the bedroom floor and appeared to be sleeping.
The babysitter checked on Gardner multiple times during the day and noted she appeared to be okay and breathing but was concerned that she had not woken up by 3 p.m. At that point, she tried to wake her up and found that she was unresponsive, according to a Piqua Police report.
Gardner was taken to Dayton Children’s Hospital. A doctor there later told police that she had suffered a fracture in the rear of her skull, had a subdural hematoma, and other “complex” injuries that were caused by a “massive impact.”
She died from her injuries on Dec. 19.
The girl “passed away as a result of the injuries inflicted upon her by” Michael Mayor, court documents filed in Miami County Common Pleas Court on Dec. 20 stated.
When Mayor was interviewed by police, he admitted to injuring Gardner after she wouldn’t stop crying while 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 stated. “He stated this was not done on the blankets and he did this several times until she stopped crying.”
Mayor thought at that point that she had fallen asleep, so he put her down and walked away.
Mayor remains booked in the Miami County Jail. He’s scheduled to appear in court later this week.
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