He appeared in front of Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis Adkins where he learned his fate. He faced between 40 years in prison and 51 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
Amanda Hinze, 30, was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison. Her sister, Jennifer Ebert, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Both women lived in the same home as McLean and Takoda.
Prosecutors said Takoda lived in Hellish conditions, being beaten and forced to stand in painful “punishment poses” for long hours. If he stopped standing in the pose, he would be beaten, prosecutors said.
They said Takoda, a Horace Mann Elementary student before his father pulled him out of school, suffered extreme abuse. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office said Takoda’s death was a homicide, ruling he died of blunt force trauma in combination with compressive asphyxia and water submersion in a bathtub.
In a sentencing memorandum filed before the hearing, prosecutors said Takoda was punched, elbowed and stood on in the hours leading up to his death.
“Still not satisfied that Takoda was sufficiently compliant, Defendant Mclean threw the child around some more, and grabbed him by the ears, and dragged him down the steps,” the memorandum says. “Defendant took the child into the bathroom and told him to clean his shorts, when Takoda again did not move fast enough, he was told to move faster or he was going to be drowned. Defendant (Jennifer) Ebert, from the living room, then heard splashing and Takoda gasping for air.”
The defense said in their memorandum that McLean took responsibility for his son’s death, but that he didn’t abuse his son for years.
“Al, without reservation accepts that his actions resulted in the death of his son,” The document says. “He does not forgive himself nor point blame towards anyone else. He does however express concern for narratives being offered by others either vilifying him based upon a false history or recreating their own false history of involvement with his son.”
“Takoda was exceptionally intelligent,” The memorandum says. “He was an avid reader and very creative. He would share things with his father that Al did not know. The two would rap together and Takoda could create or complete lyrics better than anyone. For all of the problems, flaws and misguided bad acts, they still were a family. This is a tragedy, not only for Takoda, but for all the members of his family, including his father.”
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