A set of handcuffs sit on a bedside table inside a Muncie, Ind., hotel on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. (Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)
CLEVELAND (Tribune News Service) — A Marine veteran and his estranged wife are charged in connection with the death of their 2-year-old daughter at at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.
Kodi Simon, 30, of Parma and Kateri Simon, 30, of Avon Lake are charged in federal court in Tampa with involuntary manslaughter.
Both were arrested last week and appeared in federal court in Cleveland. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Jennifer Dowdell Armstrong ordered them be detained.
Kateri Simon requested a hearing to determine whether she’ll remain in custody, which is set for Thursday. Kodi Simon waived his extradition and is being sent from Cleveland to Tampa, where the case will proceed. A message was left with Kateri Simon’s attorney, Justin Roberts.
Defense attorney Leif Christman said he only represented Kodi Simon for the hearing in Cleveland and opted for his client to have a Florida judge determine bond.
The indictment gives little information about the incident, other than the Simons are not accused of killing out of “malice.” It says the death happened on Nov. 27, 2022, at MacDill Air Force Base, where Simon was serving at the time.
The Simons’ 2-year-old daughter, Maeve, died, and Kodi Simon pleaded guilty to a charge of child endangerment in a court martial proceeding. Charges of negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter were withdrawn.
Simon, a staff sergeant, was accused of negligently placing his daughter in a portable crib with a foam mattress and a suitcase full of books on top of her. That caused his daughter to die by asphyxiation, according to court martial records.
He was sentenced in February 2024 to 12 months confinement and a bad conduct discharge from the service, according to the records.
Three of those months were suspended because Simon had more than 10 years of honorable military service, a “solid family structure,” including a wife and two other children who depended on him, according to the court martial records. The documents also said Simon took full responsibility for his actions.
Kodi Simon in October filed for divorce. That case is on-going.
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