A teen who has been incarcerated since he was 12 years old has a chance of being released.
Paul Gingerich, now 18, was sentenced to 25 years after he and his friend, Colt Lundy, shot and killed Lundy’s stepfather, Phil Danner, in 2010 in Cromwell.
A hearing to decide Gingerich’s future is set for Oct. 28 in Kosciusko County Circuit Court with special judge James Heuer presiding.
Gingerich was charged as an adult and sentenced to 25 years after he pleaded guilty to murder. Gingerich is believed to be the youngest person sentenced to prison in Indiana. He is currently being held at the Pendleton Maximum Security Prison for Juveniles.
Lundy, who was 15 at the time of the murder, also was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
A third boy, Chase Williams, who also was 12 at the time, was convicted of assisting a criminal for helping the other two boys through the window at Danner’s home. Williams was tried as a juvenile and served six months in juvenile jail in South Bend, according to court records.
Gingerich’s sentence resulted in the creation of Paul’s Law, a law that allows sentencing alternatives for juveniles convicted of serious crimes.
In 2013, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned Gingerich’s guilty plea, and remanded the case back to Kosciusko County Circuit Court. Gingerich accepted a plea deal to conspiracy to commit murder. The sentence remained the same, but incorporated the new law that allows the court to revisit a juvenile’s sentence once they turn 18.
Gingerich turned 18 in February. He had his first hearing in Kosciusko Circuit Court in April.
During the hearing, Gingrich’s attorney, Monica Foster, presented evidence of Gingrich’s progress through the prison system. Foster submitted records that show that when Gingerich started his sentence, he was a sixth-grader with poor grades and multiple write-ups. He focused on his studies and became a 3.8 grade point average student. He has also accumulated 37 college credits during his incarceration.
Gingerich was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease while in prison, forcing him to have surgery and have a portion of his colon removed, court documents state.
After the April hearing, Heuer made no decision, continuing the hearing indefinitely, pending more information.
According to court records, Gingerich wants to move in with his mother in Fort Wayne, finish his degree and work at a family business.
Heuer can allow Gingerich to serve the rest of his time in home detention, on probation, or can mandate he serve the rest of his sentence in adult prison.
“To commit Paul Gingerich to an adult prison would run a very real risk of destroying the progress that has undeniably been made by this young man,”Foster stated in court documents.
