By Dave O'Brien
Record-Courier staff writer
A 29-year-old Windham Township man was arrested Thursday on charges he murdered his girlfriend's five-month-old daughter Wednesday while the child was under his care.
Kenneth B. Shears, 29, of 10011 North Ashington St., was arrested on a charge of murder, an unclassified felony, Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley said Thursday.
According to Kaley, the child suffered physical violence while under Shears' care at the North Ashington Street address. She was later taken to Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna, where she was pronounced dead. Kaley said Thursday night his department was not releasing the victim's name.
A postmortem examination by the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office determined the death was a homicide, Kaley said. Shears voluntarily came to the Portage County Justice Center in Shalersville and was interviewed there at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, he said.
Shears left the justice center, but was later arrested at the North Ashington Street address following further investigation by sheriff's Lt. Greg Johnson and Det. Liz Ittel.
Shears is being held in the Portage County jail pending arraignment, Kaley said.