Anna Ritchie is expected to testify at the trial. She was sentenced on Sept. 1 to 18 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder and other felonies for the child's death in March.
The prosecution and defense attorneys Frank Schiavone III and Frank Schiavone IV indicated to Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler they are ready for jury selection to begin Nov. 28.
Prosecutors say Robert Ritchie knew about his son’s injuries and did not seek medical treatment. He is being held in the Warren County Jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond with a 10 percent rule.
If convicted, Ritchie faces a maximum of 11 years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter charge and five years for child endangering.
Prosecutors say on March 16 at her Franklin home, Anna Ritchie put the boy in a bathtub of scalding water, with an estimated temperature of 126 to 135 degrees, for about 25 minutes. When she pulled him out of the water, skin from Austin’s legs was in the bath water and the tops of his feet were bleeding, according to prosecutors.
Anna Ritchie, 25, put the child to bed, and he was found dead the next morning by Robert Ritchie.
Robert Ritchie knew the child had been burned through cell phone contact with his wife, according to court documents.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said after learning his son was burned, Robert did not “set eyes on the child until 15 hours later when he was found deceased.”
Prosecutors showed gut-wrenching autopsy photos of the boy and the injuries he suffered during Anna Ritchie’s sentencing. Some of those photos will likely be shown to the jury in the Robert Ritchie trial.
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