COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday for the 2022 murder of her 4-month-old son.
Melissa Thorp, 40, entered a guilty plea in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and was sentenced to 20 years for aggravated murder.
Court records say Thorp called the Columbus Division of Police on Sept. 12, 2022, saying her 4-month-old son was dead.
Officers and medics arrived at the woman's apartment on Jefferson Avenue in downtown Columbus, just south of East Long Street. The baby, identified as Aaron Thorp, was pronounced dead at 8:57 a.m. Officers and fire personnel reported that the victim was already in a "state of decomposition."
A forensic technician with the Franklin County Coroner's Office and Columbus Police Homicide Detectives investigated the boy's death.
The coroner's office determined the boy's death was caused by the right side of his skull being crushed between two objects, according to court records.
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