'Going to be a dead baby': Dad who suffocated 'particularly fussy' infant after death threat is sentenced

A 30-year-old father in Ohio will spend at least a decade in prison for abusing and ultimately killing his 4-month-old daughter, admitting to suffocating the infant by swaddling her so tightly she could not breathe.

Marcellaus Nekie Malone pleaded guilty last week to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of child endangerment through corporal punishment or physical restraint in connection with his daughter’s December 2025 death, court records show.

Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Jason E. Nagel subsequently sentenced Malone to three years on the child endangerment charge and seven to 13 1/2 years on the manslaughter charge, with the sentences to be served consecutively.

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In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped charges of murder and domestic violence as well as several additional counts of child endangerment.

As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Milford Township Police Department responded to Malone’s apartment on Dec. 11, 2025, in response to a report of an unresponsive infant. Upon arriving at the address, emergency medical personnel attempted lifesaving measures but were unable to revive the infant. They transported her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The preliminary investigation revealed that Malone had been engaged in an escalating “pattern of abuse” that stretched back at least two months. Surveillance footage recovered from the home also showed him behaving in an increasingly abusive manner toward his daughter. From the release:

Investigators discovered a video of Malone making threats to the baby, telling her that she was “going to be a dead baby,” and that he was going to toss her on the bed if she “p—ed [him] off.” It was further revealed that as a punishment for crying, Malone would tightly swaddle the infant, including her head, to the point she could not breathe and would pass out. He told her that if she wanted to stop getting swaddled like that, she would have to stop crying. Not only would Malone cut off the baby’s breathing as a result of her fussing, but on at least one occasion, he punched the infant in the face for crying, causing a significant bruise.

The night of the child’s death, authorities said the infant had been “particularly fussy.” After the child’s mother swaddled her appropriately, Malone took the child and placed her in a bassinet in another room and “was the last person to see the baby alive.”

“The infant’s autopsy revealed no other reason for her death, but documented as a contributory cause of death, a ‘[r]eported history of occlusion of the nose and mouth by swaddling of the body and head,'” the release said.

Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve previously described the allegations against Malone as “unthinkable.”

“Children are our most precious gifts. It is unthinkable that this innocent child could have been treated in such a callous and evil manner,” he said. “This Office is dedicated to holding accountable those who would do such unspeakable violence to our county’s most vulnerable.”

The post ‘Going to be a dead baby’: Dad who suffocated ‘particularly fussy’ infant after death threat is sentenced first appeared on Law & Crime.