Kori Seavers: Ohio babysitter pleads to beating 21-month-old child to death

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FREEMONT, OHIO: Kori Seavers, 38, has pleaded guilty to killing 21-month-old William Bova while he was under her care in September 2022. She is awaiting her sentencing hearing which has been scheduled for January 24, 2024.

According to court records, the babysitter was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of endangering children, and one count of felonious assault in the brutal death of the child, according to Law and Crime.

Seavers has registered an Alford plea, which results in a conviction similar to the guilty plea. The difference between the two arises from the fact that in the case of the former, the defendant is allowed to maintain their claim of innocence while conceding that the state has sufficient evidence to convict them at trial.

When did William Bova die?

Kori Seavers had called the Freemont Police Department on September 20, 2022, to report an unresponsive toddler at a residence on Sixth Street. She was running a daycare business from home, and used to look after multiple children daily, including William and his 4-year-old sister.

First responding officials at the scene found William unconscious and not breathing. The child was first taken to a local hospital and then transferred to a children’s hospital in Toledo, where he was declared dead on September 24.

What did Kori Seavers initially claim about the toddler's death?

During an interview, Seavers told investigators that she had left William unattended for a couple of minutes while preparing his bottle early on the day of the incident. She then returned to change his diaper and made him sit upright.

Shortly afterward, Seavers claimed the child “fell forward with his face on the floor,” and was completely limp and unresponsive when she picked him up.

Self-harming behavior was typical for William, Seavers had reportedly told the authorities, to which his family members had agreed.

Doctors disagreed with Kori Seavers' claim

Speaking with WTOL, one of the doctors who treated the toddler said, "I have never seen injuries this severe that were caused by a child falling down."

William had suffered bleeding in the cavity between the skull and brain, extensive retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes, and a shifting of his brain. Doctors had to place him in a medically induced coma to stop his condition from deteriorating.

The injuries were considered unlikely to be self-inflicted since William had not suffered any contusions or trauma to the outside of his head.

The doctors thus described his death as “nonaccidental” and “consistent with shaken baby syndrome.”