BORDERLAND

Baby Elaina’s dad guilty of domestic violence

5/16/2014

A Toledo man was found guilty after pleading no contest in Toledo Municipal Court to domestic violence.

Terry “TJ” Steinfurth, Jr., 26, of 2027 Bakewell St. was sentenced Thursday to one year of probation for allegedly choking and slapping his girlfriend, Rebecca Navaugh, 25, on March 22. The order to spend 30 days at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio was suspended; Mr. Steinfurth was ordered to pay court costs.

Mr. Steinfurth was a frequent figure in local and national media last summer as police spent months searching for his missing 18-month-old daughter, Elaina, who was reported missing on June 2. The toddler's decomposed remains were found Sept. 5 in the garage of the Federal Street home in East Toledo where she was last seen.

The toddler's mother, Angela Steinfurth, and her boyfriend, Stephen King II, are serving life in prison.

Angela Steinfurth was found guilty in Lucas County Common Pleas Court of obstructing justice and murder; Mr. King was found guilty of aggravated murder, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, and obstructing justice.