A man is in jail in connection with the death of a baby and neighbors say it's something they feared would happen. The Ross County Prosecutor charged 37-year-old Daniel Gilbert following the death of a 7-month-old baby at a home in Waverly last Sunday.
Neighbors like Ted Pierce tell 10TV they’ve called authorities before, worried for the safety of the six children who lived in the home.
"Yeah I'm really upset, ‘cause no child deserves to be treated that way,” Pierce said.
It doesn’t take much to see that neighbors living on Valley Road in the small town south of Chillicothe are angry. Pierce is one of them.
"If I had my way about it, I'd take the kids in,” Pierce said.
He is critical of his neighbor and her boyfriend, Gilbert.
Ross County Sheriff’s deputies went to their home on August 30th for a report on an unresponsive infant. Authorities determined the small child died from blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Deputies arrested Gilbert and charged him with child endangerment, saying he knew about the injuries and did nothing. He is being held at the Ross County Jail under a $50,000 bond.
Three other children living in the home were removed as a precaution.
"I just wish there was more I could do about it,” Pierce said.
Pierce and other neighbors said children’s services and local law enforcement have been called to the home before. Neighbors say they’d often see children from the home wandering in the street.
"I personally have seen toddlers out in the middle of the road and trucks would have to stop. There'd be no adult supervision,” Pierce said.
The Ross County Prosecutor said 3 children have since been removed from the home. A judge set Gilbert’s bond at $50,000. He is expected to be back in court on Friday.
The circumstances surrounding the death are still under investigation by the Ross County Coroner’s Office and the Ross County Sheriff’s Office.