A 24-year-old man was sentenced this week for his role in the March 17 death of a 2-year-old Renault boy inside his home.

Ryan A. Miller, who now resides in Marble Hill, Mo., was sentenced in Monroe County Circuit Court to two years of conditional discharge, fined $483 and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

He was formally charged on Sept. 8.

The Monroe County coroner’s office determined the death of 27-month-old Jase C. Tojo to be accidental, indicating the cause of death to be “asphyxiation with contributing factors of respiratory complications, co-sleeping and bedding material.”

In addition to the deceased boy, those present inside the home at 2143 Main Street in Renault when police arrived late in the morning on March 17 included the Jase’s 23-year-old mother, Sydney Tojo, a younger baby and Miller — who was Sydney’s live-in boyfriend at the time but not Jase’s father.

Court information states that Miller knowingly co-slept with young Jase, who had a bronchial inflammation, in a partial overlay position in the living room after Miller had consumed alcohol and while Jase was lying face down on soft bedding material. Miller had been watching Jase and Sydney’s other young child while she was working, court records state.

The Southern Illinois Child Death Task Force assisted the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and coroner’s office in this investigation.