Mother, boyfriend charged in infant’s death

An Athens woman and her boyfriend are jailed on charges related to the death of the woman’s 3-monthold girl.

Christina L. Hazlett, 23, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, which are first- and second-degree felonies, respectively.

Jerry W. Andresen, 21, has been charged with child endangerment, a third-degree felony, according to Athens County Municipal Court records. They each are being held on $100,000 bond at the Hazlett Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville.

The couple was charged after Athens police responded on March 12 to a report of an unresponsive infant at the Athens Garden Apartments where Hazlett and Andresen live. The baby was taken to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital in Athens, where she was pronounced dead.

A preliminary finding by the Montgomery County coroner’s office concluded the baby, named Ayla, died from blunt force trauma, Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said Thursday. The baby had broken ribs at the time of her death, he said.

Andresen was not the baby’s father. The father is serving a prison sentence for domestic violence against Hazlett, Blackburn said. Hazlett’s 4-year-old son was placed in the custody of the county Children Services agency when Ayla died, he said.

Blackburn said he expected to seek indictments against the couple from a county grand jury soon.