Darst gets prison for injuring baby

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A Van Wert man convicted of seriously injuring his 9-week-old son was given a two-year prison term during a hearing Thursday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Sumner E. Walters, who heard the case on assignment from the Ohio Supreme Court, gave David Darst, 36, the minimum sentence allowable for a charge of endangering children, a second-degree felony offense. Second-degree felonies carry a maximum sentence of eight years. Judge Walters also gave Darst credit for three days already served while awaiting sentencing.

Prior to sentencing, defense attorney Scott Gordon indicated that his client has “gone through hell” with the loss of his only child with his wife, Latricia, adding that, despite a jury’s convicting him of child endangering, Darst continues to maintain he did not cause injuries to his son, Logan, that included a subdural hematoma (bruising of the brain) and chest injuries. Gordon urged the judge to grant community control in the case.

Darst also spoke prior to sentencing. “Sir, I have three other dependent children that depend on my child support checks,” he said. “I just ask for leniency, please.”

The city man was tried twice on the charges, with the first trial in March ending in a hung jury. Assistant Prosecutor Eva Yarger made the decision to retry Darst and that trial, which ended June 2, resulted in a guilty verdict.

“I’m glad that the jury came to the right conclusion,” she said of the second verdict. “I think that’s why we trust in the jury system and I think this was the right verdict.”

Yarger said following the June trial that the decision to retry Darst after the first jury deadlocked was easy, because she really felt he was guilty. “I believed he did it, and I felt the child deserved justice,” she noted.

Those testifying in the case included family members, Van Wert Detective Sergeant Jeff Blackmore, Deb Booth of the Van Wert County Children’s Services Department and Dayton Children’s Hospital physicians Dr. Laurence Kleiner and Dr. Lori Vavul-Roediger.

Darst testified at both trials, as did his wife, who also maintained her husband’s innocence.

Logan Darst was placed in foster care in April 2010 after his injuries were discovered, but died of cancer January 21 of this year.