A late-night break-in and killing in a quiet Sylvania neighborhood has left a family shattered and a man facing aggravated murder charges.
SYLVANIA, OH – A 35-year-old man is accused of breaking into his mother-in-law’s home and beating her to death with a crowbar as a contentious divorce unfolded with her daughter, according to Lucas County jail records and local reports. Jonathan Schmidt was booked Friday into the Lucas County Corrections Center in connection with the death of 68-year-old Marcia Van Druten.
The attack happened Wednesday around 9 p.m. at the victim’s home on Fox Hollow Court. Van Druten and her husband were inside the residence when Schmidt allegedly forced entry by shattering a sliding glass door with a crowbar. While her husband was upstairs, Van Druten was fatally beaten, authorities said.
Warning message preceded attack
The violence followed a warning relayed to the victim’s daughter, according to a friend who spoke publicly about the moments leading up to the killing. “One of Jon’s friends reached out to Kinsey saying they had received a message from Jon saying he was going to hurt her mom,” Emily Hayman told Toledo ABC affiliate WTVG. “And that terrified Kinsey, so Kinsey tried calling her mom multiple times and when her mom didn’t answer, she got scared and called her dad. The phone was next to him so he heard the phone. He went downstairs and found her.”
Hayman said she was contacted by Schmidt’s wife in a state of panic shortly after the attack. “She said he killed my mom. He killed my mom. And at that point I was already on the way to her house,” she said.
Responding officers arrived at the home and pronounced Van Druten dead at the scene. An autopsy conducted by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death to be multiple blunt force trauma and ruled the death a homicide.
Arrest and ongoing domestic dispute
Schmidt fled the area after the attack but was arrested Thursday morning in La Salle, Michigan, about 25 miles northeast of Sylvania, according to reports.
The killing comes amid an ongoing divorce and custody dispute between Schmidt and his wife. The couple shares a 1-year-old son, born prematurely about 15 months ago. Court proceedings had reportedly grown contentious, involving subpoenas for family members, including Van Druten, and disputes over child and spousal support.
A GoFundMe created by Hayman describes the impact on the victim’s daughter and her child. “Her mother, who she deeply loved, was killed in a way no one can prepare for, leaving behind grief that is sudden, overwhelming, and impossible to put into words,” the fundraiser states. It adds that she must now raise her child “without the support she should have had, while carrying a weight no one should have to bear.”
Schmidt remains in custody as the case moves forward in Lucas County.
Jonathan Schmidt, Marcia Van Druten, Sylvania Ohio homicide, Lucas County murder case, Ohio domestic dispute killing