Man convicted of kidnapping, attempted murder of infant girl

LANCASTER, Pa. -- (WPMT) -- A Lancaster man was convicted Thursday of attempted murder and other charges for slashing his infant daughter's face while kidnapping the girl, placing her in a trash bag and backpack.

A Lancaster County jury found 37-year-old David W. Sleets guilty of five felonies regarding the Nov. 11, 2014, incident that started on East Frederick Street and ended at a Lancaster General Hospital parking garage.

Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield presented evidence at the four-day trial of the crimes and how the child survived after emergency surgery at Hershey Medical Center.

The jury deliberated about 90 minutes before deciding the case Thursday afternoon. Sleets also was convicted of aggravated assault, kidnapping (two counts), and endangering a child.

Lancaster County Judge Donald Totaro, who presided over trial, will order sentence after a background check and mental-health evaluation are completed.

Sleets is at Lancaster County Prison on $1 million bail. He represented himself at trial with a court-appointed attorney as stand-by counsel.

According to evidence presented by Mansfield:

Sleets kidnapped the child from a home in the first block of East Frederick Street, as the child's mother slept.

While kidnapping the child and placing her in a trash bag, which was placed inside a backpack, Sleets slashed the child's face and neck. Sleets then ran more than 200 yards, with the child's breathing impaired while in the bag. The mother gave chase.

Sleets then threw the bag, containing the child, under a vehicle in the parking garage at 554 North Duke Street.

The mother rescued the child and rushed her to the hospital.