GOSHEN – The second trial for Jackie Rolston has come to an end as the Elkhart County woman charged with killing a toddler left in her care has been found guilty.
Rolston’s first trial in the death of 19-month-old Kirk Coleman ended in a mistrial when a juror shared outside information with another. That led to her attorney requesting a change of venue, but that was denied.
Her second trial began on Monday, Nov. 28, and by late on Wednesday afternoon, the jury had returned it’s verdict.
Rolston was charged with a single count of battery resulting in the death of a child.
Initially, she told police in October 2014 that Coleman was choking on his lunch. But Coleman died hours later, and a coroner ruled he died of blunt force injuries.
Rolston was convicted of neglect of a dependent in a previous case. However, Coleman’s family wasn’t informed by Rolston of that at the time. The family has since worked to get Kirk’s Law passed, which requires the creation of a database of people convicted of child abuse. That database must be up and running by July 1, 2017.
