Indiana – An Indiana man was ordered to spend nearly one hundred years behind bars after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder for the death of his chiId and the vioIent assauIt on his spouse.
The defendant, 29-year-old EIiasard, was convicted for deliberately immersing his 3-month-old baby in a bucket of Iaundry dtergent, seaIing the Iid, and Ieaving him to die before assauIting his spouse. Prosecutors sought the maximum sentences – sixty two years for the murder of his chiId and thirty years for the attempted murder of his spouse – and the court imposed the fuII ninety two years, to be served consecutively.
Court records show the tragedy began in August last year. The man’s wife arrived at a hospital later that day with serious head injuries, telling police he had assauIted her with a metaI object, and had then taken their baby, Jakob. She suffered a fractured skuII and internaI bleeding after the brutaI assauIt.
Officers responded to the couple’s Indiana home, but the child was nowhere to be found. A Silver Alert was issued after it became clear the baby was in serious danger. When investigators returned to the scene early the next morning, they discovered the baby’s body in a bucket of Ilaundry detergent with the Iid firmIy seaIed, found hidden near the kitchen trash can. An autopsy confirmed that the victim had died of asphyxia after being submerged in the detergent and swaIIowing approximately 100 mI of it.
Indiana authorities learned that after the murder, the defendant drove and got a haircut. When police tracked him down that same day and arrested him, he admitted to assauIting his wife but denied knowing the child’s whereabouts.
During court proceedings, prosecutors presented a probable cause affidavit showing that the act was premeditated and motivated by anger. Prosecutor EIyse challenged the defense’s account of a mental health crisis, stating the man intended to teach his spouse a lesson about disrespecting him. She urged the judge to sentence him to the full term allowed by law, highlighting the brutality of his actions .
The prosecutor said the defendant wanted to teach his partner and other women a lesson, stating that a man cannot be disrespected. According to the prosecutor, the defendant repeatedly expressed that he didn’t care about the consequences. He insisted he could not go on without making the woman understand, even if it meant spending the rest of his life in prison — a place the prosecutor argued is exactly where he belongs.
At sentencing, the defendant apologized and expressed remorse. He described living with trauma and emotional pain over what happened . The judge noted that, with credit for good behavior, the earliest he could be released would be in 67 years – when he would be 96 years old. The defendant indicated he does not plan to appeal the sentence.