A car caught fire on Zion Church Road on Wednesday night, resulting in the death of a three-year-old girl and the arrest of her father.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office issued a press statement stating that at approximately 9:51 p.m., dispatch received a complaint regarding an unreasonable driver who was swerving and maybe driving on a wheel rim.
The driver was reportedly driving on the rim of the wheel. While the deputies were on their way, they received information that the vehicle had caught fire after coming to a stop on Zion Church Road close to Shenk Road.
At the time that the deputies arrived, the automobile was completely engulfed in flames. Nicholas Matthew Stemen, 33, from Elida, was the driver of the vehicle, and he escaped the vehicle without incident.
During the process of extinguishing the fire, firefighters from American Township discovered Lillyanna Stemen, Stemen’s daughter, sitting in the back seat of the vehicle. Her death was confirmed at the scene of the incident.
On the basis of a felony charge of harming minors, Stemen was arrested and transported to jail. Several additional charges are anticipated, according to the announcement, which stated that the incident is still being investigated.
