A Marietta father arrested this month for allegedly murdering his infant son and attempting to do the same to his 2-year-old daughter was among 21 people indicted by a Washington County Grand Jury this week.

Adam J. Baker, 23, of 214 Sacra Via, was indicted on one unscheduled felony count of aggravated murder, two first-degree felony counts of attempted aggravated murder and one second-degree felony count of felonious assault.

Baker was arrested Dec. 7 at the Marietta Police Department after admitting to officers that he covered the mouth and nose of his son, 4-month-old Andrew Baker, which resulted in his death June 7.

Months later, Baker’s 2-year-old daughter was found unresponsive and transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. After she was released, she was re-admitted just days later with similar injuries, only much more extensive.

It was the incidents connected to the 2-year-old child that prompted a further investigation, as Andrew Baker’s death was originally ruled by the coroner to be undetermined.

“She was taken to the hospital, treated and released and then came back with injuries that were much worse,” said Washington County interim Prosecutor Kevin Rings. “The evidence will show that she suffered serious physical harm.”

Rings said the attempted aggravated murder charges were added in connection to the 2-year-old. Baker was originally arrested for murder in connection to Andrew Baker’s death and felonious assault for the November incidents.

“The statute states that if the victim is less than 13, then it’s aggravated murder,” Rings said. “Kids that age are remarkable in their ability to recover, even in the most serious of injuries, so to say ‘this is how she’ll be’ is never a good bet.”

Upon Baker’s arrest, his daughter was in a wheelchair and left blind after the attack.

Baker admitted to suffocating both children during the three separate incidents. During the incidents, emergency responders arrived at the residence to find Adam Baker trying to perform CPR on the victims.

He remains in the Washington County Jail on a $700,000 bond.

Other indictments

Martin D. Welch, 44, address unknown, of Marietta, was indicted for one second-degree felony count of felonious assault, one third-degree felony count of abduction, one fourth-degree felony count of aggravated assault and one fifth-degree felony count of theft for two separate incidents.

In August, Welch was allegedly at the home of his girlfriend’s daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend where the four of them were playing cards and drinking Aug. 18.

“Later that night (Welch) became irate with his girlfriend because he thought she was talking to another man,” said assistant prosecutor Jeremy Wolfe. “She was led into a bedroom and he began to punch her repeatedly. She ended up with a hematoma, broken nose and two black eyes.”

Though the woman originally agreed to lie to anyone who asked about the incident at Welch’s request, the woman’s daughter chose to call 911. Welch also allegedly wedged a chair under the door knob at one point to prevent his girlfriend from getting out of the room.

The second, unrelated incident prompted the fifth-degree theft charge, which Wolfe said allegedly came from a July 28 incident in which Welch allegedly stole a valid license plate off a broken down vehicle in Marietta and put it on his own.

Justin C. Sherman, 27, of 853 Strawberry Hill Road, Reynoldsburg, was indicted on one third-degree felony count of conspiracy to robbery and one third-degree felony count of having weapons while under disability.

Sheena R. Clark, 30, of 1408 St. Marys Ave., Parkersburg, was indicted on one third-degree felony count of conspiracy to robbery for the same case.

“They, in the company of others, came to Marietta to what we believe was to commit a robbery or an armed robbery,” Rings said. “They were stopped by police before it happened and were found to have weapons in their control.”

Sherman was under a weapons disability because of a prior assault conviction, resulting in the extra charge, Rings said.

Robert V. Hardie Sr., 57, was indicted on two fourth-degree felony counts of domestic violence for an incident that occurred Nov. 12 in Marietta.

“His wife was at the WIC office waiting on it to open up, and she was there an hour early because she had arranged to let the defendant visit his children because they were separated,” Wolfe said. “When he showed up, he attempted to open her car and it was locked. He became irate and he began to kick the car.”

Hardie allegedly continued to kick the car, and while the Marietta Police were being dispatched to the location, Hardie punched his wife in the chin and threatened to kill her in front of her children as she attempted to enter the WIC office.

Thomas R. Voisinet, 34, of 485 Muskingum River Road, Marietta, was indicted on one fourth-degree felony count of felonious assault.

“He was already indicted for felonious assault, but he’s now being indicted for aggravated assault as we had to charge him in a different way,” Rings said.

In June, on Muskingum River Road, Voisinet was allegedly intoxicated when he attacked Stephen Dailey, a friend of his daughter, with a knife, cutting him several times.

Jeffrey S. Dowler, 50, of 1740 Mathoit St., Parkersburg, was indicted on two fourth-degree felony counts of insurance fraud and one fourth-degree felony count of arson for two separate incidents.

“There was a fire that took place in Lowell on July 12, 2013, and Dowler allegedly set the fire then made fraudulent statements in an effort to collect insurance payments,” Rings said.

Rings said Dowler allegedly did something similar in 2011 in Lowell. He could not confirm if the properties were homes that Dowler lived in or just owned at both times.

Chris Walker, 26, of 108 Berry Lane, Marietta, was indicted on one fourth-degree felony count of theft of drugs for an incident that occurred Oct. 12 in which Walker allegedly stole a number of dangerous prescription drugs from a friend’s house.

Shannon S. Hines, 27, of 1220 Brackenridge Road, and Thomas T.J. Gaughan, 29, of 7133 Saint Marys Ave., Parkersburg, were both indicted on a fifth-degree felony count of breaking and entering and a fifth-degree felony count of theft each for an incident that occurred on Ohio 550 in 2013 at the home of Joseph Morehouse.

“Morehouse was in jail at the time and had a neighbor looking after his property, and the neighbor’s son, Gaughan, decided to clean out the garage,” said assistant prosecutor Amy Graham. “Hines assisted him and they made several trips to Rink’s and Cashland and took lawn mowers and several items.”

Two women that were being held on other charges at the Washington County Jail came forward recently and admitted that they allegedly helped Gaughan and Hines, neither of whom had driver’s licenses, transport items to various places in return for cash.

Daryl A. Wallace, 42, of 4200 Midway Ave., Dayton, was indicted on one fifth-degree felony count of possession of cocaine. Wallace was stopped by Marietta Police in July and allegedly found in possession of 2.4 grams of cocaine.

Terry A. Chandler, 29, of 1205 Wyatt Lane Apt. A, Belpre was indicted on a fourth-degree felony count of domestic violence, a fourth-degree felony count of assault, a second-degree misdemeanor count of resisting arrest and a second-degree felony count of obstructing official business for an incident that occurred Dec. 3 in Belpre.

Chandler was allegedly being arrested on an older domestic violence charge when he began resisting arrest and making violent attempts to avoid being taken into custody.

Robert L. Reed, 59, of 999 Little Bear Creek Road, Lowell, was indicted on a fourth-degree felony charge of receiving stolen property. Reed was allegedly discovered in June to be in possession of a Chevy pick-up truck that had been reported stolen from a dealership in London, more than a decade ago.

Angela D. Stanley, 40, of 109 Vine St., Marietta, was indicted on one third-degree felony count of deception to obtain a dangerous drug and one fourth-degree felony count of illegal processing of drugs. Stanley was allegedly obtaining prescription Adderall illegally at Marietta pharmacies in June 2014.

Thomas M. Emerick, 46, of 229 Sheldon Ave., Marietta, was indicted on two fifth-degree felony counts of receiving stolen property.

According to Graham, Emerick allegedly stole both a license plate and registration sticker from two different vehicles in Marietta sometime between February 2014 and August 2015 to use on his own vehicle.

Isaac Martin, 45, of 1213 Wyatt Lane Apt. C, Belpre, was indicted on a third-degree felony count of domestic violence for an incident that allegedly took place Nov. 17. Martin has multiple prior convictions for domestic battery and violence in Wood County, W.Va., for 2012 and 2013.

Kirk M. Urban, 40, of 353 Everson Road, Belpre, was indicted on a fifth-degree felony count of public indecency for an incident that allegedly took place Nov. 30. Rings noted that Urban has prior convictions for the same offense.

David A. Hansen, 38, of 832 Ridge St., Marietta, was indicted for a fifth-degree felony count of theft, a fifth-degree felony count of receiving stolen property and a first-degree misdemeanor count of misuse of credit cards.

“He had access to his mother’s purse and he took the credit card out without her consent and took it to various locations in Marietta and in Williamstown to buy beer,” Wolfe said. “It was a really low amount, but this was a problem that’s happened several times.”

Diane N. Miracle, 27, of 1315 Ridgeway Ave., Parkersburg, was indicted on a fifth-degree felony count of receiving stolen property for an Aug. 31 incident in Belpre.

“She is a cousin of the victim, Sharon Bennett, who lives with her mother in Belpre,” Wolfe said. “She had a jewelry box and noticed a lot of items missing the day (Miracle) showed up twice at the house when she wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Law enforcement discovered that Miracle had allegedly stolen several items and had pawned some of them at a Cashland in Belpre for a value of more than $1,000.

Though some items were recovered, others are still missing, Wolfe said.

William L. Campbell, 25, of 541 Main St., Malta, was indicted for three first-degree misdemeanor counts of theft and three fifth-degree felony counts of forgery for three separate incidents from early August.

“He was passing counterfeit currency at a Par-Mar in Barlow, the Duke and Duchess in Lowell and the Dollar General in Lowell,” Wolfe said. “It’s become a big problem in the rural parts of the county with counterfeit bills.”

Campbell was allegedly bleaching bills in lower currency and then reprinting them into $50 bills.

Eddie L. Starcher, 48, of 74 Coopers Ridge Road, Williamstown, was indicted on a first-degree misdemeanor of theft. According to Rings, Starcher was allegedly caught in the act of stealing scrap metal by employees of Sky Metal Recovery in Marietta on Sept. 28.