Findlay man charged in man's death

4/12/2018
BY ALLISON DUNN
BLADE STAFF WRITER

FINDLAY — A Findlay man was indicted in the mid-December beating of a man outside of a bar, who later died on New Year’s Eve. 

Devin R. Dennard, 23, of Findlay, is charged with voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, in Hancock County Common Pleas Court. He was indicted Tuesday by a Hancock County grand jury. 

He is accused of beating Gregory Hammer, 53, during a dispute in the parking lot at Walnut Saloon, 335 Walnut St., on Dec. 16, according to Findlay police. Mr. Hammer was found unconscious on the ground with head injuries and later died at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, police said.

“There’s different explanations on how the fight occurred,” said Hancock County Prosecutor Phil Riegle. “There was clearly some fight that led to what happened, so we felt the most appropriate charge was voluntary manslaughter.” 

According to an autopsy report, Mr. Hammer died from blunt force trauma to the head, and his death is considered a homicide, Mr. Riegle said. 

Mr. Hammer’s brother, Darryl Hammer, 47, was also injured during the incident, but no charges have been filed to that assault, Mr. Riegle said. 

Mr. Dennard was not listed in police custody as of 9 a.m. Thursday. 

Contact Allison Dunn at adunn@theblade.com, 419-724-6506 or on Twitter @AllisonDBlade.