Wauseon man found guilty of three charges in child's death, but not murder

WAUSEON — A Wauseon man was found guilty of three charges involving a child’s death following a jury trial here in Fulton County Common Pleas Court, but not murder.

The jury declared Devon Harris, 29, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; and two counts of endangering children, second- and third-degree felonies. The jury found him not guilty of murder, an unclassified felony; and felonious assault, a second-degree felony.

The trial began on April 1 and concluded this week with the jury verdict. Sentencing will follow.

All five charges were returned by Fulton County grand jury in August 2022, and alleged that on Aug. 2 that year he injured a three-year-old child, Gemma Thompson, who died two days later, according to Wauseon police. Initially she was taken by rescue personnel to Fulton County Health Center, Wauseon, before being flown by air ambulance to Toledo Hospital.

Harris was being held Friday in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio where he has been incarcerated since his arrest on Aug. 8, 2022.

He was represented by attorney Autumn Adams of Toledo.

Judge Daniel Hogan — a retired Franklin County Common Pleas judge — presided over the case in place of Fulton County Common Pleas Judge Scott Haselman who had been the county prosecutor when Harris was indicted in August 2022.