A Dayton father and his girlfriend who were accused in the torture and death of 10-year-old Takoda Collins pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Montgomery County courtroom.
Al-Mutahan McLean and Amanda Hinze appeared in separate hearings in front of Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis Adkins to make their pleas and are due back on Sept. 29 for sentencing.
Takoda died in December 2019 after McLean called authorities to his Kensington Drive home in Dayton and reported that his son was unresponsive. Takoda later died at Dayton Children’s Hospital.
Authorities immediately launched an investigation that found that Takoda was tortured by his father for years. They say he was locked naked in an attic, beaten and emotionally and physically abused. In court records, police said Takoda was forced to stand bent over and cross-legged for long periods of time and received a beating by McLean if he stopped.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled Takoda died of blunt force trauma in combination with compressive asphyxia and water submersion in a bathtub.
The death of Takoda sparked a number of changes in how Dayton Police and Montgomery County Children Services deal with abuse children cases.
McLean, 32, pleaded guilty to murder, rape, kidnapping and three counts of child endangerment in his son’s death. He faces up to 51 years to life in prison in the case.
“Mr. McLean was the primary abuser of this child,” Lynda Dodd, who prosecuted the cases said. “He was ...the clear torturer of this child for years.”
McLean was due in court Monday for the start of a trial which has now been vacated because of the plea. Hinze, 30, was also due in court later this month for her own jury trial.
Instead, she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and children endangering and faces up to 30 years in prison. Dodd said that Hinze spurred the abuse on and participated in it.
“This was a horrendous case,” Dodd said. “This child endured years of ongoing, ceaseless, unimaginable torture. For both of these defendants to be headed to prison .... that’s a significant step. They both belong in the penitentiary.”
Jennifer Ebert, 27, Hinze’s sister, was also charged in the case and also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children. Her case was sealed from the public and she has not yet been sentenced.
Dodd said Takoda made a lasting impact on people who knew him.
“There were a lot of people who loved Takoda,” Dodd said. “Those who dealt with him at the schools and those who interacted with him, he was a child who was worthy of love. And he didn’t find peace in life, we are hopeful that this will bring some peace in his death.”
