A Dayton man accused of killing his 23-month-old son pleaded guilty to murder this week, closing out a case that began nearly three years ago when the toddler was found with severe bruising and burns inside a Darst Avenue apartment. Kenyon Joevon Johnson, 24, entered his plea in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court just days before he was scheduled to stand trial on August 17.
Johnson was already behind bars serving a three- to four-and-a-half-year sentence for an unrelated felonious assault conviction in Montgomery County when a grand jury indicted him in December 2025, according to Dayton Daily News. That original indictment, reported by a news release shared on Facebook, listed ten counts against Johnson: murder, three counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of child endangerment, two counts of domestic violence, permitting child abuse and tampering with evidence.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed nine of those ten counts — the three involuntary manslaughter charges, both endangering children counts, both domestic violence counts, the permitting child abuse count and the tampering with evidence charge — in exchange for Johnson's guilty plea to a single count of unclassified murder. Johnson is now scheduled to be sentenced on August 18, the station's report notes.
What Happened on Darst Avenue
Dayton Police responded to the 1600 block of Darst Avenue just before 4 p.m. on July 14, 2023, after Johnson reported finding his 23-month-old son, Braxton Trollinger, unresponsive and called 911 himself, per the same account. Braxton was found dead with significant bruising and burn injuries, and prosecutors say he was in his father's care when the injuries occurred.
The Montgomery County Coroner's Office determined the toddler's cause of death to be multiple blunt force trauma and burn injuries combined with lidocaine toxicity. Applying topical lidocaine to severely burned or broken skin in infants can dramatically increase systemic drug absorption, according to research published by the National Institutes of Health, a mechanism that can trigger life-threatening toxicity, seizures, and cardiac or respiratory arrest. Prosecutors accused Johnson of trying to hide his son's injuries rather than seeking medical attention.
Prosecutor Points to Failure of Care
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said the case reflected a complete breakdown in parental responsibility. “A complete lack of parental responsibility by defendant Johnson ultimately led to the tragic and senseless death of the child,” Heck said, according to Dayton Daily News. He added that the toddler's injuries were severe enough to demand immediate care: “This innocent little boy clearly suffered significant abuse that required medical attention while in the defendant-father's care.”
Johnson was charged alongside his girlfriend, Jazzmine Huffman, 29, who pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with evidence in February — six months before Johnson's own plea agreement, per US Crime. Huffman still has another count pending against her.
What Sentencing Could Bring
Under Ohio Revised Code Sections 2903.02 and 2929.02, a murder conviction carries an indefinite mandatory prison term of 15 years to life, according to the Ohio Revised Code, meaning offenders must serve a minimum of 15 full years before becoming eligible for parole. Johnson could face life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years, and his murder sentence will run consecutively to his separate felonious assault sentence. He also faces up to $15,000 in fines and would be monitored under parole sanctions for the rest of his life if released.
A Pattern Local Agencies Track Closely
Braxton's death fits into a broader pattern local child welfare officials have tracked for years. Montgomery County Children Services conducted 4,199 child abuse and neglect investigations in 2022, following a peak of 4,701 cases in 2021, with physical abuse and neglect accounting for more than half of all reported cases, according to WYSO. CARE House, the county's dedicated pediatric advocacy center, conducts multidisciplinary forensic interviews and medical evaluations for nearly 1,000 abused and neglected children in Montgomery County each year, per CARE House.
Statewide data compiled by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth from 2018 to 2022 shows that children under age five accounted for 69% of all child maltreatment fatalities in Ohio, with 52% of those deaths resulting from abuse and 48% from neglect, according to 10TV. Braxton, at 23 months old, fell within that most vulnerable age group. Montgomery County maintains a 24-hour child abuse hotline, 937-224-KIDS, to immediately route reports of suspected abuse or neglect to law enforcement and child welfare investigators.
