January 26, 2021 3:40 a.m.

On Friday, a local man pleaded guilty to the fatal beating of a one-year old girl last year.

Court documents show that Aaron Toole entered a guilty plea on first degree counts of manslaughter, assault and criminal mistreatment in Douglas County Circuit Court. A plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office means the 22-year old will serve a 20-year sentence with the Oregon Department of Corrections. That will be followed by seven and a half years of post-prison supervision.

On January 20th, 2020 at about 11:00 a.m. emergency dispatchers received a report of a child who was not breathing at a residence on Cedarwood Lane in Idleyld Park. Telephone CPR was initiated until deputies arrived and attempted life-saving efforts. The child, identified as Ember Alice McBride, was taken to Mercy Medical Center where she was pronounced deceased upon arrival.

The next day a forensic pathologist determined that the girl’s death was the result of blunt force trauma and ruled it to be a homicide. Toole was arrested and taken to the Douglas County Jail. The man was known to the victim and her mother.

A formal sentencing for Toole has been set for February 8th.