LAFAYETTE, IN — Montrell Jolly violently beat his 4-year-old cousin, Ke’andre, on July 28, 2023, resulting in injuries that caused the boy’s death, according to a jury’s verdict on July 24, 2025.
Prosecutors planned to retry Jolly on the charge of murder, which the jury hung on last year, but now Jolly likely will never be convicted of murder for Ke’andre’s death.
Jolly, 36, pleaded guilty Friday, July 17, to being a habitual offender, which can add six to 20 years in prison. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charge that last year’s jury couldn’t resolve.
Jolly and prosecutors agreed to let the court decide his sentencing fate at his hearing on Oct. 2. He will be sentenced for being a habitual offender, as well as for neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury, aggravated battery and battery resulting in death to a person less than 14 years old, which the jury convicted him of last year.
Jolly faces 28 to 60 years in prison. Indiana law requires inmates to serve 75% of the declared sentence, so Jolly will serve between 21 and 45 years in prison. He already has roughly three years of credit for his pretrial detention.
Jolly was supposed to watch his cousin while Ke’andre’s mother went to the food pantry.
Jolly told police he made his cousin do wall squats because the boy put his shoes on the wrong feet and he peed sitting down, according to evidence at Jolly’s trial.
When Ke’andre lost consciousness, Jolly called paramedics to the house in the 800 block of North 13th Street. Jolly told 911 dispatchers and paramedics that the boy had a seizure.
But Ke’andre did not have a seizure, according to testimony.
Doctors in Indianapolis and the pathologist who did Ke’andre’s autopsy found severe injuries caused by extreme and violent trauma to the boy, including closed-head injuries caused by violent shaking, massive bruising to the boy’s arms, back and chest, as well as damage and bleeding to his pancreas, according to testimony.
Three vertebrae in the middle of Ke’andre’s back were broken, and bruising on top of his head matched a wire basket found in a closet in Jolly’s apartment, according to testimony.
Ke’andre’s family members may participate in the sentencing hearing and give their opinions about Jolly’s sentence, according to the plea agreement. Jolly may appeal his sentence and the convictions handed down by the jurors.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette man who beat his 4-year-old cousin avoids murder conviction
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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By Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
