Parents charged with murder after their badly beaten four-month old baby was found dead with drugs in his system

The parents of a four-month-old baby have been charged with murder after he was found dead at the bottom of a well inside padlocked milk crates with drugs in his system.

Dylan Groves was found at the bottom of a 30-foot well in Otway, Ohio, with fractures to the skull, left leg and left arm, according to the coroner’s report. His body had been wrapped in plastic bags and blankets and locked inside two milk crates that were tied with a chain of padlocks, zip-ties and metal wires. The crates were then weighed down with rocks and iron.

His parents, Daniel and Jessica Groves, 41 and 39, have however pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, endangering children, tampering with evidence, interference with custody, gross abuse of a corpse and felonious assault.

Methamphetamine and amphetamine were found in Dylan’s liver. He was found with drugs in his system when he was born and was taken away by child services. His father was later given custody of him under requirements that he attended court dates, home visits and doctor’s appointments.

But the family disappeared on May 3rd and the police were called. After three weeks the parents were spotted near their home and fled into the woods. Jessica was arrested but Daniel barricaded himself inside the home and was only taken into custody after a six-hour stand-off with police.

Scioto County Sheriff’s Office believed that the boy may have died in March. During a search of the couple’s home, police say they found stolen items up to the value of $42,000 including two four-wheelers, an ATV, two trailers, a riding lawnmower and more.