Q & A after the screening with film director, Jessica Earnshaw
The Ohio State University at Marion will host a screening of Baby Doe, a documentary produced by Sarah Paulson and directed by Jessica Earnshaw that examines the case of Gail Ritchey, an Ohio woman convicted in 2022 in connection with the death of a newborn infant more than three decades earlier. The screening will be held Tuesday, November 10, 6 p.m. in Morrill Hall Auditorium, 1465 Mt. Vernon Avenue.
This event is free and open to the public and the entire Marion campus community thanks to financial support from Crawford-Marion Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board (ADAMH) and is presented through a partnership between Ohio State Marion, ADAMH and National Alliance of Mental Illness – Marion and Crawford Counties, (NAMI).
Ritchey was 23 years old when she unexpectedly discovered she was pregnant. Living in a conservative Christian community, she did not tell anyone about the pregnancy and gave birth while working as a nanny in Shaker Heights. Ritchey said she did not believe the infant was alive after the birth. She placed the infant’s body in the trunk of her car and later left it in a wooded area in rural Geauga County, where it was discovered days later.
The case remained unsolved for decades, with the infant becoming known as “Geauga’s Child.” In 2022, advances in DNA analysis and genetic genealogy led investigators to Ritchey. She was arrested and prosecuted in Geauga County and ultimately convicted of murder. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District affirmed her conviction and indefinite sentence of 15 years to life, rejecting several claims of error, including challenges related to venue and the weight of the evidence.
The 2025/2026 documentary film Baby Doe, directed by Jessica Earnshaw, has won the following awards Global Health Award / Global Health Competition at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary at the Cambria Film Festival and received a Grand Jury Award nomination at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film & TV Festival, where it had its world premiere.
Following the screening, those in attendance are invited to take part in a Q&A with multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker and photojournalist, and Film Director of Baby Doe, Jessica Earnshaw.