A 32-year-old father of a 10-year-old Ohio boy pleaded guilty to three counts of child endangerment, kidnapping, rape and murder in the death of his 10-year-old son, who experienced “extreme abuse and torture” before his demise in December 2019.
The plea agreement in connection with Takoda Collins' death was reached on Wednesday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. Al-Mutahan McLean faces 40 to 51 years to life behind bars when he gets sentenced later this month, reported Dayton Daily News.
On Dec. 13, 2019, McLean called 911 saying his son was unresponsive in their house. He was taken to a children’s hospital in Dayton, Ohio where he was declared dead. A medical personnel said that the boy had many injuries on his body that indicated that he was severely beaten.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said that when the boy was only 6 years old, he was “subject to various types of abuse, which escalated into extreme torture” that ultimately resulted in his death, according to Law & Crime.
He was reportedly made to stand bent over and cross-legged for a long duration and was beaten up by his dad if he stopped. The boy had bruises and cuts on his body, and before his death he was locked while naked in a filthy attic and held underwater. According to the county coroner’s office, the child died of compressive asphyxia and water submersion in combination with blunt force trauma.
On Wednesday, McLean’s fiancée, Amanda Lee Hinze, also pleaded guilty to charges connected to the boy's death. She was convicted of endangering children and manslaughter, and faces nine months to 30 years in jail.
Prosecutor Lynda Dodd said that though McLean was the “clear torturer” and “primary abuser” of the child, Hinze also participated in abusing him. Dodd called it a horrendous case, and said that the boy endured years of unimaginable and ceaseless torture. She considers both the defendants to be headed to jail as a significant step.
Hinze’s sister, Jennifer Marie Ebert, pleaded guilty in May last year to endangering children and involuntary manslaughter. She is yet to be sentenced.
McLean and Hinze isolated the child and removed him from Dayton Public Schools three years ago.
