Man pleads guilty to manslaughter for girlfriend's death

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)  A man pleaded guilty Tuesday in the case of a baseball bat beating death of his girlfriend.

As part of a plea bargain, Anthony Ochs pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Ochs is asking for 50 years in prison as part of the deal. Sentencing is scheduled for April 5.

Ochs was charged with murder in April after he was accused of beating his girlfriend, Susan Lombardi, to death with a baseball bat.

On Friday, April 13, police said Ochs admitted he beat Lombardi in the head with a baseball bat earlier that day when the couple started arguing in their home on High Point Run.

Ochs called 911 and 42-year-old Lombardi was taken to the hospital in critical condition. She was treated for several injuries including, the loss of her left eye, swelling in her brain, abrasions and lacerations. She passed away in the hospital on April 21.

Ochs was initially charged with aggravated battery and domestic battery but, upon Lombardi's death, the Allen County Prosecutor's Office dropped those charges and filed a single murder charge against him.

Lombardi and Ochs had apparently been together for eight months.