AKRON, Ohio (WJW) — A Barberton man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for raping a 12-year-old girl, whose death in 2023 remains under investigation.
Summit County prosecutors say 30-year-old Anthony Mignano was sentenced after pleading no contest to three counts of rape and three counts of gross sexual imposition. He will be eligible for parole after 10 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, Mignano moved in with then-12-year-old Melanie Elkins in the spring of 2022. Prosecutors say he admitted to having sex with her three times.
Rangers investigating after Summit County bat caves vandalized
Investigators say Elkins was found dead in an alley behind a home near South Arlington and Fifth Avenue in Akron in June of 2023.
The Summit County Medical Examiner revealed the cause of death to be a combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Mignano was in jail at the time of her death.
Detectives learned that 31-year-old Keith Earley, of Akron, dumped the teen’s body in the alley. He was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to charges, including gross abuse of a corpse and failure to to report knowledge of a death.