BUCYRUS — A 4-month-old Galion child was listed in critical condition after the latest update in a case that triggered one of the largest bonds in Crawford County court annals.
Mitchell Lawhun, of Mansfield, was placed on $2 million bond earlier this week by Crawford County Municipal Court Judge Shane Leuthold in connection with the case. A preliminary hearing is slated for Wednesday, March 30 in Crawford County’s Municipal Court.
Prosecutor Matthew Crall asked the judge to set the bond at $1 million. But after hearing the testimonies surrounding the March 18 incident that put the girl in a Columbus hospital with a broken arm and a skull fracture, Leuthold doubled it to $2 million.
The only other bond that was higher was $10 million for Donald Hoffman who pleaded guilty to a quadruple homicide in 2014.
Galion Police Department responded to a possible case of child abuse around 8 p.m. on Friday, March 18 at 410 Hensley Ave. The child was taken to Galion Community Hospital and later flown to Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
“The child is still in critical condition, but we’re still waiting to hear,” Crall said earlier this week.
Crall said Lawhun’s versions of events are not consistent.
“Initially he said the child was sleeping on his chest, then the other child was sleeping on his chest, then it moved to a bouncy seat. Then he finally said he dropped the child while vacuuming,” Crall said.
He added that the child’s diagnosis from the hospital was shaken baby syndrome and the only other person in the home at the time of the alleged incident was a 2-year-old child. The baby’s mother was at work at the time of the incident, Crall said.
According to court documents, the 25-year-old Lawhun, who has an Oak Street address in Mansfield, has a pending OVI case from two weeks ago. He was also arrested by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office in 2014 on a felony charge for domestic violence. His first domestic violence conviction was from a 2005 incident. He also has three parole violations in Richland County for failing to appear in court.
