Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
The charge could carry a fine of up to $15,000 and a mandatory 15 years to life in prison.
As part of the agreement, the murder sentence will run concurrently to his sentence for a separate but related case where Schmidt was indicted on charges of gross sexual imposition and pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor.
Schmidt pleaded guilty in the second case as well. We have reached out to the court to ask for those documents.
Schmidt is scheduled to be sentenced in both cases March 31.
The charges stem from Dec. 12, 2022, when medics were called to the 30 block of North Hedges Street on a report of a child not breathing. Medics took Ryder Thomas Williams, then 16 months old, to Dayton Children’s Hospital, where he died five days later.
“The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Greg Flannagan.
At the time, Schmidt had been babysitting the toddler as well as his two sisters, ages 5 and 3, and a 2-year-old brother. He called the father of the children to say the boy wasn’t breathing, and the father called 911.
The mother of the children, Chelcie Beerey, said that the four siblings were staying with their father in Dayton, who shared an apartment with Schmidt and had been good friends with him since high school.
While police investigated Ryder’s death, detectives reportedly found sexually explicit images of a 3-year-old girl known to Schmidt on his phone, who Beerey later said was her daughter.
Schmidt is currently in the Montgomery County Jail, where he has been since Feb. 2, 2023.
Staff writer Jen Balduf contributed to this story.
About the Author
