Possible arrest made in connection to Dustin Rybak’s death

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

UPDATE @ 12:14 p.m. (Dec. 19):

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has ruled the jailhouse death of Dustin Rybak an accident. Rybak’s cause of death was from fentanyl intoxication, according to the autopsy report.

Rybak was “not breathing” when he was taken from the Montgomery County Jail to a local hospital on Nov. 2. Rybak, who had pleaded guilty in the 2013 death of 19-month-old Takota Hasty and was serving an 18-year sentence, died Nov. 8.

An inmate who was housed in the Montgomery County Jail at the same time as Rybak until Nov. 11 has been federally indicted on one count of distributing fentanyl that caused the death of another.

The indictment filed in Dayton’s U.S. District Court names Charles Darnell “Chuck” Spencer, 48. The document said on or about Oct. 29, Spencer distributed a substance including fentanyl that caused the death of a person only named by the initials “D.R.”

Spencer, who is now in Butler County Jail, had been in Montgomery County Jail from April 29, 2016. He is one of several co-defendants named in an alleged heroin distribution case that also is being federally prosecuted.

UPDATE @ 8:44 a.m. (Dec. 19):

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has ruled the death of Dustin Rybak as accidental, according to a spokesperson.

Rybak’s cause of death was from Fentanyl intoxication, the coroner’s office said.

UPDATE @ 10:37 a.m. (Nov. 8):

Dustin Rybak, who was serving 18 years in prison for the 2013 death of 19-month-old Takota Hasty, has died after he was transported from the Montgomery County Jail to the hospital last week.

Rybak died around 3 p.m. Monday, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

An autopsy on Rybak is scheduled for today.

INITIAL REPORT (Nov. 4):

Dustin Rybak, who is serving 18 years in prison for the 2013 death of 19-month-old Takota Hasty, was "not breathing" in a Montgomery County Jail cell and transported to a local hospital Wednesday evening, according to a 911 recording this news organization obtained Friday.

A 911 caller from the jail mentioned Rybak by name and told a dispatcher, “He is not breathing,” the call said, requesting an ambulance. “He was found in his cell.”

The caller said jail personnel were administering CPR as she was making the phone call. Rybak, 28, remained hospitalized late Friday afternoon, officials confirmed.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said Rybak “definitely was not” beaten in the jail, and investigators are obtaining medical records because they aren’t sure what happened yet.

Rybak was back in the jail as a possible witness in the trial of Jesse York — another man accused of killing a child. York’s trial was continued but Rybak remained in jail instead of being taken back to the Allen Correctional Institution in Lima.

A Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman would only confirm that Rybak wasn’t in the jail and that Rybak was in a local hospital. The office would not release when and under what circumstances Rybak was transported.

A Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office incident report at 8:46 p.m. Wednesday stated, “An inmate at the Montgomery County Jail became ill and was transported to a local hospital.”

A separate narrative, also written by Sgt. Mark Shively said, “The Dayton Fire Department was requested to the Montgomery County Jail in reference to an inmate illness. The inmate was transported to a local hospital to be examined.”

Rybak pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, child endangering and two counts of tampering with evidence and was sentenced to prison in March. Hasty’s mother, Crystal Laurel, is serving a six-year sentence at Dayton Correctional Institution for involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

York is accused of killing 22-month-old Rylee Sellars in Germantown in November 2014. York's trial recently was continued until March 7, 2017.

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