Murder suspect's court hearing postponed

SANDUSKY — The man who allegedly killed and sexually assaulted a 3-year-old girl in Sandusky last September had his court hearing postponed until the end of the month. Devin S. O'Brien, 30, of the 4000 block of Venice Road (U.S. 6), remains at the Erie County Jail on no bond. O'Brien, appeared in court at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, with one of his attorneys, Kevin M. Spellacy, who requested that the hearing be continued to a later date because lead defense attorney Robert Dixon was absent due to a "family emergency." Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Tygh Tone rescheduled the hearing to 11 a.m. on Aug. 29. Spellacy said that O'Brien is scheduled for a follow-up appointment on Wednesday with one of the defense's experts and expects to receive a "definitive answer to some issues in two weeks." Background Sandusky police arrested O'Brien after he allegedly made a phone call to police on the evening of Sept. 12, reporting that he believed his "girlfriend's daughter and dog have been taken," he reportedly told a dispatcher. O'Brien was arrested by Sandusky police shortly after they found the girl's body, and he was booked into Erie County Jail the next 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 the 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. As a result of O'Brien's arrest, he was indicted by an Erie County grand jury in early October 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