Yahoo Autos Anthony Hutchens sentenced as a juvenile to 55 years for the murder of 6-year-old Grace Ross
SOUTH BEND — St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Sanford sentenced Anthony Hutchens on Friday as a juvenile to a total sentence of 64 years for the March 2021 murder and molestation of 6-year-old Grace Ross in a wooded area near her home at an apartment complex in New Carlisle.
The sentence included 55 years for murder and nine years for child molestation. The sentences are to be served consecutively, and Anthony has already served 748 days for the murder charge.
Sanford found Anthony guilty of murder and child molestation after a two-day bench trial that concluded Jan. 26.
The verdict: Teen found guilty of killing, molesting New Carlisle 6-year-old
Sanford suspended those sentences under IC 31-30-4-2(b) and placed Anthony in an Indiana Department of Corrections juvenile facility. According to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office, as a condition of the suspended sentence, Anthony must successfully complete placement at the juvenile facility.
Once Anthony turns 18, the juvenile facility will send Sanford a report on Anthony's time there. Sanford will then decide whether Anthony should remain at the juvenile facility until up to his 21st birthday, to sentence Anthony to an adult facility, to place him in community corrections or to discharge him from his sentence.
If and when Anthony is released, he will have to register as a violent sex offender.
Anthony's appointed public defender, Jeff Kimmell, said a St. Joseph County public defender appointed by the court will have 30 days to appeal Anthony's sentence.
Shortly after the sentencing, Grace's mother, Michelle Ross, posted on the Facebook page Justice for Grace Ross, "I'm sorry baby girl, you deserved better," in reference to the sentencing decision.
Two years of criminal proceedings
At about 6:30 p.m. March 12, 2021, Grace's family reported her missing after she had last been seen in the area of Chapman Drive. Her body was found two hours later in a wooded area behind the Prairie Ridge Apartment Complex.
An autopsy by Jared Brooks, a forensic pathologist, found the cause of her death to be homicide by asphyxiation. It also revealed blunt force injuries to Grace's pelvic region.
At the trial, prosecutors showcased DNA evidence and a video-taped statement from Anthony as proof the teenager, then 14, killed and molested Grace. Ultimately, Sanford found prosecutors proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Vigil for Grace: New Carlisle residents come together to express love for 6-year-old found dead Friday
The sentencing concludes more than two years of criminal proceedings against Anthony that have included multiple rounds of evaluations and hearings that started in probate, or juvenile court, but later moved to adult, or superior, court. After the trial, Kimmell said he would appeal the verdict based on his contention that the trial should have been held in juvenile court.
On Friday, Anthony entered the courtroom in handcuffs and wearing an orange jumpsuit and flip flops with socks. The long, stringy dark hair in his mugshot is now shorter, though the right side still nearly covers his eye and hid his face from the witnesses and members of the media gathered in the courtroom for the sentencing.
Anthony's mother, dressed in jeans and a blue sweatshirt, sat alone in the front row, nervously picking at her fingernails. She waved at her son before the hearing began, though his hair prevented her from seeing his face for most of the proceedings.
Throughout the hearing, Anthony was silent and displayed little emotion, his gaze angled down slightly.
Grace's family spoke at the sentencing
Grace's mother and Grace's paternal grandmother, Kelly Howard, spoke at the sentencing as witnesses for the state. They emotionally shared how Grace's murder has impacted them over the past two years.
Ross said she still remembers having to identify her daughter from a picture on a detective's phone the night she was killed.
"Every time I close my eyes, all I could see is the picture of her laying in the woods, alone, on the detective's phone," Ross said.
She said she often thinks about the things her daughter will never get to do. Grace was supposed to play baseball later that year, and, Ross said, she had planned to sign Grace up for soccer the day after she was killed.
"Grace will never get the chance to grow up or graduate high school or drive a car," Ross said, and Grace will never get to meet her siblings, a younger brother and sister, who were born after Grace's murder and will only know their big sister through "pictures and memories."
Howard said she has known no greater love in her life than being "Grace's Nana." She said she never knew she could love someone more or as much as her children until Grace was born.
