INDIANAPOLIS — A Cumberland man will spend 35 years behind bars for his role in the death of his girlfriend's 8-year-old daughter, who prosecutors said endured weeks of abuse before she died.
Derrick Dale was sentenced Friday for the charges of aggravated battery resulting in death, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person less than 14 years old.
Kimberly Grosklos, Dale's girlfriend and the child's mother, was sentenced last month to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
The incident happened on April 6, 2020, at the couple's home in the 11500 block of Kirkwood Drive.
Grosklos reportedly told police that her daughter got into trouble at home and got a spanking before being told to go take a bath. She told police that a few minutes later, she and Dale heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom and found her daughter underwater. That's when the couple claimed they pulled the girl from the water, gave her CPR and called 911.
Prosecutors said the child was taken to the hospital by first responders in a state of cardiac arrest and later died.
Grosklos' claims were disputed by investigators who compiled a body of evidence pointing toward child abuse.
After the child died, investigators were told she had extensive recent injuries to her body that were consistent with abuse. An autopsy showed the child's cause of death was mixed modality trauma including but not limited to multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
"All traumatic injuries were consistent with non-accidental trauma, that is child abuse," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a release.
The girl "had endured physical abuse in the weeks preceding her death including beatings with various objects, such as jumper cables, as well as manual strangulation," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The couple was convicted in June after a three-day jury trial.
"While this resolution brings justice for the victim, we understand that her siblings need our continued focus and support, as they navigate this tragic adversity at such young ages," Mears said at the time of the conviction.
