Jury seated, trial set to start in tot's death

2/11/2011

NAPOLEON — It took nearly a week, but by 1 p.m. Friday, a jury of 12 people had been seated to hear the trial of a Napoleon man accused in a child's death.

Opening statements in the trial of David Knepley, 51, are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday in Henry County Common Pleas Court. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangering in the Aug. 15, 2007, drug-overdose death of Kamryn Gerken, 13 months old.

Jayme Schwenkmeyer, 25, of Liberty Center, Kamryn's mother, twice has gone on trial on the same charges. The first trial ended in a mistrial. She was convicted of both charges after her second trial, but Judge Keith Muehlfeld later ordered a third trial after it was learned prosecutors had failed to disclose a witness whose testimony might have affected the verdicts in the case.

Mr. Knepley is not the father of the child but was living with Ms. Schwenkmeyer and Kamryn at the time of the child's death.