State police charge Crawford County woman in poisoning death of 11-year-old adopted son

COCHRANTON — Authorities have charged a Crawford County woman with homicide in the suspected poisoning death of her 11-year-old adopted son in early September.

Mary E. Diehl, 62, was placed in the Crawford County Correctional Facility late Monday after Pennsylvania State Police troopers in Meadville charged her with criminal homicide in the death of Najir W. Diehl on Sept. 5.

Najir was found dead at home, Crawford County Coroner Scott Schell said. State police investigators said troopers were notified of the death on Sept. 6 at 10:17 a.m. and responded to the family's home at 7621 Mallard Road in East Fairfield Township, north of Cochranton, where Najir was found dead in bed.

Najir had special needs and had an extensive history of health-related problems, said Schell and Lt. Mark Weindorf, crime section supervisor for state police Troop E in Lawrence Park Township.

Weindorf said an investigation was conducted, and Najir's death was preliminarily believed to be natural pending the results of toxicology testing. Schell said a series of tests were ordered, and the results of the testing came back within the past few days and were forwarded to the state police.

The testing found a poisonous substance in Najir's blood, Weindorf said. More testing was done, and ultimately the results found evidence indicating the poisonous substance was ingested when Najir was alive, he said.

Authorities have not commented on what the poisonous substance was.

Weindorf said, at that point, investigators were looking into whether the poisoning was accidental or whether someone purposely gave the substance to Najir.

"Ultimately we arrested her for criminal homicide," he said.

Other children were in Diehl's house, and Crawford County Children and Youth Services was also involved in the investigation, Weindorf said. It was unknown Tuesday whether the children are still in the home.

Najir was born in Erie on June 7, 2010, according to information in his obituary. He is survived by a sister and a brother, in addition to Diehl, according to the obituary.

Meadville District Judge Samuel Pendolino arraigned Diehl Tuesday morning on one count of criminal homicide in Najir's death and returned her to the Crawford County Correctional Facility without bond. She is tentatively scheduled to appear before Titusville District Judge Amy Nicols for her preliminary hearing on Nov. 23.

Other Crawford County cases

Diehl is the latest person to be charged with criminal homicide in Crawford County in recent months.

• Ragene J. Gilbert, 25, was charged by the Pennsylvania State Police on Oct. 25 with homicide and possession of a firearm prohibited in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Destine R. Conyers, whose body was found along a rural road in Fairfield Township, south of Meadville, on Sept. 27, 2020.

Conyers, of Townville, died of gunshot wounds to the head and chest, Schell said following an autopsy.

Gilbert was arraigned and jailed with no bond on Oct. 25. His preliminary hearing was initially scheduled in Titusville on Monday morning, but it was continued and no new date was set as of Tuesday morning.

• Erie resident Daryl Gillespie, 28, was charged by state police on Sept. 14 with homicide and burglary in the fatal shooting of his estranged wife, 23-year-old Christina Ruhl-Farnsworth, at a residence in the 12000 block of Route 618 in Sadsbury Township, near Conneaut Lake.

Authorities said Gillespie admitted to shooting Ruhl-Farnsworth twice with a .22-caliber revolver.

Gillespie, who is in the Crawford County Correctional Facility without bond, is scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing on Dec. 15.

• Four people — 16-year-old Kavan M. Boitnott, 18-year-old Qwamae D. Sherene, 18-year-old Jayden I. Speed, and 17-year-old Martavious K. Stout — are charged with homicide and other offenses in the fatal shooting in Meadville of 19-year-old Nathaniel E. Harris on July 3.

Sherene waived his criminal case to court on Aug. 23. Boitnott and Speed are scheduled to appear in court for their preliminary hearings on Nov. 19. Stout remains at large.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com.  Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn