Dayton father accused of killing baby enters insanity plea

Credit: William Clouse / Montgomery County Jail

Credit: William Clouse / Montgomery County Jail

A Dayton father accused of killing his 2-month-old baby boy has entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.

The defense for William Clouse, 39, also asked Montgomery County Judge Richard Skelton to grant an evaluation of Clouse. The attorney, Michael Brush, wrote in a motion that the court order a competency and a sanity evaluation.

A ruling on the motions, which were filed Thursday, wasn’t entered into the case’s docket by Friday afternoon.

Police began their investigation into Clouse when they and medics were dispatched Feb. 2, 2020, to a home on the 800 block of Wyoming Street in Dayton for a call about an infant not breathing.

“The victim, 2-month-old Gabriel Clouse, was transported to Dayton Children’s Hospital,” according to a release from the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office. “The infant died three days later, on Feb. 5. An autopsy revealed the infant suffered from a skull fracture and brain hemorrhages. The defendant was alone with the infant when these injuries occurred.”

In a 9-1-1 call that prompted the police response, a man identified in records as William Clouse told dispatchers that his baby needed help.

“He got some milk in his lungs or something. I don’t know, he’s not breathing,” the man said.

The dispatcher talked the man through CPR, and the baby began making noises, according to the call, and the man said milk started to come out the baby’s nose. Authorities arrived at the home soon after.

Clouse is currently in the Montgomery County Jail on $1 million bond. The next court date in the case has not been set.

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