INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD says it has completed an unusual homicide investigation.
Last month, we told you a 34-year-old man died, possibly from injuries he received as a baby.
The man's family is calling on prosecutors to charge - for a second time - the man who shook him.
“Basically, a 2-month-old baby trapped in a 34-year-old man’s body,” is how James “Jim” Mitchell described his nephew, Patrick.
In February, Patrick’s death put his 1988 shaken baby case back into the spotlight. Now, his family wants the man who pled guilty to shaking him three decades ago to face additional charges.
“Even if they lose the case in court, he'll have a murder on his rap sheet,” Mitchell said.
13News confirmed IMPD completed its homicide investigation and presented the findings to the Marion County Prosecutor’s office this month. The prosecutor’s office says it’s still investigating. The coroner’s office is still conducting the autopsy, which will include an official cause of death.
Jim & Mary Mitchell said the family sacrificed to provide round the clock care for Patrick over the years. At first, Patrick’s grandmother cared for him. They say she even went to nursing school.
“We took care of our family like we were supposed to,” said Jim.
“There was always someone home with Patrick,” Mary added. “We never, ever, ever left him alone.”
Patrick was loved, but his life was full of suffering. He was confined to a bed or chair his whole life. The shaking severely damaged his brain, leaving him deaf, blind and unable to talk. He also could not eat without a feeding tube.
Court documents show Coleman was sentenced to 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony battery. He served more than 2 years.
The Mitchells say it wasn’t enough.
"If he was in bed for 34 years, not being able to walk, talk, see or hear, eating through a hole in his stomach, never being able to taste food, never being able to cry, that would be him paying for justice,” Jim said. “Or if he could sit in a jail cell for 34 years, that would be justice.”
At first, many in the legal community, including Indiana University law professor Novella Nedeff, thought additional charges could not happen.
“My first reaction was there seemed to be a double jeopardy problem, I must admit,” she said.
More research revealed the U.S. Supreme Court says a delayed death is the exception to the double jeopardy rule. However, any case would likely also have to get past the Indiana Supreme Court.
Nedeff says the state’s double jeopardy laws are usually stricter. She tells 13News Indiana’s high court has never ruled on a case like this.
So there is a chance Coleman could face additional charges and a new case could go to trial. Still, Nedeff stresses it won’t be a slam dunk, telling 13News proving a 1988 case comes with several challenges.
“It’s a heartbreaking case, and a hard case,” Nedeff said.
A fight the Mitchell's want the state to take on.
“He could have been president,” Mary said.