Lafayette man charged after allegedly beating his nephew to death

A 33-year-old Lafayette man allegedly beat his 4-year-old nephew to death after he “put his shoes on the incorrect feet,” a probable cause affidavit filed Friday said.

Montrell Jolly, the accused, allegedly made his nephew do wall sits as punishment until he passed out just past 4 p.m. on July 28. He tried to wake him up by placing him in a cold shower.

After Lafayette police and paramedics arrived, they reportedly found the victim soaked and unconscious with no visible injuries other than one pupil that appeared constricted while the other was blown, which police say is indicative of a head injury.

The victim was eventually flown to an Indianapolis hospital where he was pronounced dead on Aug. 1.

Jolly told police the victim did wall sits daily because of Jolly’s frustration at the victim’s dependence on his mother, sitting instead of standing to urinate, putting his shoes on the wrong feet and not knowing the alphabet or how to count correctly.

That day, Jolly reportedly made the victim do wall sits because he had put his shoes on the wrong feet. He put his back against the wall, lowered to a squat position with his hands out in front of him.

Jolly’s cousin, the victim’s mother, allegedly knew about and previously asked Jolly about the wall sits and was bringing in groceries when Jolly placed the victim in the bathtub. Jolly reportedly told her the 4-year-old was having a seizure.

The victim continued to “cry and yell” until Jolly noticed he had suddenly stopped making noise, the affidavit said.

Jolly’s nephew was allegedly on the ground near the door frame of Jolly’s bedroom with blood coming out of his mouth.

Police found blood stains on the wall as well as damage to the outside of the bedroom door and to the bathroom door, the affidavit said. They also found multiple blood stains on the south wall and one on the west wall as well as about 0.42 grams of suspected marijuana.

Medical personnel reportedly found injuries not included in Jolly’s description of events.

Local medical personnel found visible injuries on the victim’s body, including blood around his mouth, a scratch on his neck and “significant bruising” around his arms, back and buttocks.

Other injuries, found at the Indianapolis hospital, included bruising on his scalp, subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage, severe hypoxic injury affecting the brain, torn upper lip frenulum, bruising on the arms, suspected lacerations and contusion of the mid portion of the pancreas, possible bowel contusion of the ascending colon, several possible rib fractures and patterned bruising to the back and over the right buttock.

One of the doctors told police there was significant head trauma that would have had immediate, permanent symptoms.

The autopsy, which was performed on Aug. 2, preliminarily ruled the death a homicide with a cause of death head force trauma. Additionally, the autopsy found evidence of bilateral retinal hemorrhages, diffuse subgaleal hemorrhage, laceration to the lib and abrasion to the jaw.

Jolly is charged with murder, child neglect resulting in catastrophic injury, aggravated battery to a minor and battery with death to a person under 14, according to court records. No charges have been filed against Jolly’s cousin.

Jail logs show Jolly was booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail on July 31 and is still there.

If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.