Father arrested after toddler’s decomposed body found in crib

Eric Warfel, 34, of Medina, a suburb south of Cleveland, was ordered held on a $1 million bond on Thursday after being charged with abuse of a corpse. The cause of death is unknown and the incident is under investigation.

Police have charged Warfel with abuse of a corpse. He said he has been unemployed for three years, and prosecutors pointed out that the mother of Warfel’s children lives in New York.

A technician from Armstrong Cable – who did not want to be identified – was working at the Forest Meadows Apartments Homes in Medina installing wiring at the residence of Eric Warfel. The girl’s body has been sent to the coroner for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Warfel was reportedly staying at the Middleburg Heights hotel in the days leading up to the discovery of the body of his 1-year-old daughter Ember Warfel. The child is believed to have been dead for about a month. Police say additional charges are pending. Magistrate Linda Leggett read from the request saying, “By his own admission, the defendant put trash in the deceased child’s bedroom to disguise the smell of the decomposing body”.

Warfel’s daughter was interrogated before she was handed to her grandparents, Berarducci said.

Northeast Ohio Media Group reports that Warfel had another daughter who died as an infant in March 2013.

The cable worker notified police, as mentioned by the statement, who located and arrested Warfel at a shopping center in Westlake, Ohio.

The apartment complex is in the 500 block of East Reagan Parkway. Inspection of the apartment and gathering of evidence were conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification to find further leads to the child’s death.