Second man indicted in death of man found in sleeping bag on nursery property in 2018

DAYTON — A second suspect has been indicted on charges connected to the death of a man who’s body was found in a sleeping bag nearly four years ago.

Donovan McDermott, 51, was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury Friday on one count of murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. The grand jury declined to indict McDermott on two additional murder charges and two kidnapping charges.

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Charges stemmed from the death of 47-year-old Steven T. Johnson of Clay Twp. Johnson’s body was found by a Brown’s Nursery worker in October 2018. His body was wrapped in plastic, stuffed in a blue sleeping bag and dumped near a wooded area.

An investigation by the Montgomery County Coroner determined that Johnson died of blunt force trauma.

Court records show that McDermott is scheduled to be arraigned July 21.

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Montgomery County Sheriff’s detectives tracked a suspect, David Savage, 64, to Wisconsin later in October 2018. Savage was later arrested by Oak Creek Police.

In November 2021, Savage pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence, according to court records. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in January, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

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