SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (Scripps News Cincinnati) — An Ohio couple was indicted on multiple murder charges following the death of one of their adopted children in 2016.
According to court documents, John and Katherine Snyder didn’t feed 8-year-old Adam Snyder during the period of September 1 through October 5, 2016.
He was pronounced dead in the hospital on October 5. The coroner ruled Adam’s death as a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head.
At the time, no charges were filed. However, due to the coroner’s ruling, the Snyders lost custody of their four other adopted children and their one biological child. The parents ended up suing the Hamilton County coroner to try and get the cause of death changed because they hired medical experts who said Adam died from sepsis, but that case was dismissed.
The Snyders used to live in Springfield Township but eventually left the Tri-State and moved to Delaware where they’ve continued to fight for custody of their children.
Their biological daughter, Allison, told WCPO that her parents were arrested in upstate New York Monday during a court-supervised visit of their other children.
She said her parents were “blindsided.”
In prior reporting, John and Katherine said they adopted several children with medical needs from an orphanage in China, concerned the children wouldn’t be able to find homes.
The couple will soon be extradited back to Hamilton County.
It is unclear why charges were filed nearly 6 years after Adam’s death.
This story was originally published Sept. 28 by WCPO in Cincinnati, an E.W. Scripps Company.
