Killer gets life in prison

SANDUSKY — A Sandusky man accused of killing and sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl last year pleaded guilty and will spend the rest of his life in prison. Devin S. O'Brien, 30, of the 4000 block of Venice Road (U.S. 6), pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder, an unclassified felony, as part of a plea deal in which the following charges were dismissed. • Three additional 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's plea included a specification that there was a sexual motivation for the crime, and another part of the agreement was that prosecutors would not pursue the death penalty. Due to O'Brien's plea, Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Tygh Tone sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Background The investigation into O'Brien first began on the evening of Sept. 12, 2024, after he allegedly made a phone call to police and told a dispatcher that he believed his "girlfriend's daughter and dog have been taken." 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. The Lucas County coroner's office performed an autopsy on the girl's body the next morning, and 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. Impact statements read Before O'Brien was given his sentence, the Erie County prosecutor's office victim assistance director Sarah Reynolds read a victim impact statement on behalf of the victim's mother, Miranda Shepherd. The victim has not been publicly identified by law enforcement, but in the form of online postings and a vigil hosted shortly after her death, others have identified the victim as Charlotte Willow Patterson. In the victim impact statement, Shepherd described her daughter as a "sweet, kind and loving child" and as her "forever birthday gift" due to her being born three days after her birthday. "Charlotte was not just taken from me: She was taken from her family, from my friends and their kids that she was friends with," Shepherd's statement read. "You can't explain to a child the reason why they can't visit or play with their best friend anymore." Throughout Shepherd's statement, she addressed how O'Brien's actions continued to affect her and also described him as the monster that she was supposed to keep her daughter safe from. "Her life was taken in the most grotesque and unimaginable way," her statement read. "She deserved the world, and since she had been robbed of her life, it is owed to her the reassurance that (O'Brien) is unable to be out in the free world again." Following Shepherd's statement and before O'Brien was sentenced, he made a brief statement directed towards Charlotte's family. "I'm very sorry for the suffering I have made you endure. I know my words will in no way ever ease your pain in losing her," O'Brien said. At the end of the hearing, sheriff's deputies led O'Brien out of the room in handcuffs. It wasn't immediately clear where O'Brien would serve his prison term or when his term would begin.