But Tuesday, the first day of a murder trial for Jonathon Mattix, Dawn Kovach's sometimes estranged family came for one of their own.   “She was missing her eyes and her left cheek was sunken in,” wrote Allen County Deputy Coroner Investigator Jeffrey McCracken in a probable cause affidavit submitted two days after she was found. As a medicolegal death investigator, he also identified three holes in her lower neck area.

This time around, at a second trial, hope turned to disappointment. Thursday, a jury found Allen guilty on two counts: child neglect resulting in death and aggravated battery. Both are Level 1 felonies meaning considerable prison time. On each count, he could be sentenced between 20 to 40 years.

Allen, 35, is accused of delivering a blow so hard to his 17-month-old daughter’s abdomen that her mesentery was “shredded,” Wagner said. She died early on Feb. 25, 2021.