Murder suspect pleads 'not guilty'

SANDUSKY — The man who allegedly killed and sexually assaulted a 3-year-old girl in September appeared before an Erie County judge on Monday. Devin S. O'Brien, 29, of the 4000 block of Venice Road (U.S. 6), was indicted in early October by an Erie County grand jury on the following charges: • Four counts of aggravated murder, each an unclassified felony • Two counts of rape, each a first-degree felony • One count of attempted rape, a second-degree felony • One count of kidnapping, a first-degree felony • One count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony • One count of strangulation, a second-degree felony • One count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony • One count of gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony O'Brien made his first appearance in front of Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Tygh Tone since a grand jury indicted him on those 12 charges in October. His initial appearance was delayed several months after Tone ordered O'Brien to complete a mental health evaluation at his attorney's request. That evaluation at a Columbus-area medical center, which was to determine if O'Brien was a danger to himself or others, resulted in a doctor determining he was "not a danger to himself and is not in need of mental health services at this time," according to court records. He returned to Erie County Jail custody on Nov. 15, where he remained as of Tuesday without bond. At Tuesday's arraignment, O'Brien pleaded not guilty to all counts. He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for 11 a.m. on Jan. 28. Case background Sandusky police arrested O'Brien after he allegedly made a phone call to police the evening of Sept. 12, reporting that he believed that his "girlfriend's daughter and dog have been taken," he reportedly told a dispatcher. O'Brien was arrested by Sandusky police a short time later after they had found the girl's body and booked him into the Erie County Jail the following day. An autopsy was conducted on the girl's body the following morning by the Lucas County Coroner's Office. The autopsy found that the child died as a result of strangulation and experienced blunt force trauma and sexual assault, Sandusky police Chief Jared Oliver previously told the Register. Authorities have not identified the victim, citing victim protection bill Marcy's Law. But in the form of online postings and a vigil hosted shortly after her death, others have identified the victim as Charlotte Willow Patterson.