(La Porte, IN) - A La Porte County man who beat and tortured his four-year old son to death could spend the rest of his life behind bars.  Alan Morgan was given 70-years in prison Tuesday for murder, battery, and resisting law enforcement.

 

The defense sought no more than 55-years because Morgan had no prior criminal record and pleaded guilty to the death.  Feelings of remorse were also cited by the defense.   However, La Porte Circuit Court Judge Tom Alevizos said the 29-year old defendant blamed others for his actions.  He later admitted to the killing after learning the brutality was captured on a video surveillance system inside the family’s residence.

 

“He has not shown one shred of remorse.  I hope someday he is remorseful and carries that remorse to his grave,” he said.

 

Alevizos also noted the pathologist who conducted the autopsy described the injuries from the abuse as the worst he had ever seen on a child in his 28-year career.  The cause of death was hemorrhaging in the brain and vital organs around the stomach.

 

Morgan's son, Judah, was found dead in his bedroom in October of 2021.  His death came after four consecutive days of being pummelled inside the family’s home in the 3100 block of East 875 South.  According to authorities, the abuse stemmed from Morgan being angry at the boy for having problems wetting his bed.

 

La Porte County Police Detective Jacob Koch testified the video showed presented plent of evidence including Morgan punching the boy more than 15 times in a single day.  Koch said there were also multiple images of Morgan picking the boy up off the floor by the neck and throwing him against a wall.  The video revealed the boy was limping or stumbling at times when viciously attacked by his father, he said.

 

According to authorities, the boy was also forced to lay on the basement floor while bound in duct tape without enough to eat for hours or days at a time.

 

Judah was an infant when taken away from his parents because of possible drug use and other problems at the home.  He lived with his cousin, Jenna Hullett, for three years until child welfare authorities returned him to his parents months prior to his death.  Hullett said she wanted to maintain custody of the boy whose life and tragic death are always in the thoughts of her and her family.

 

“He was a beautiful, bright, happy and very loving boy,” she said.

 

Morgan pleaded guilty in exchange for prosecutors not seeking a life sentence without parole.

 

The boy’s mother, Mary Yoder, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death for allegedly not going to the authorities despite knowing about the abuse.

 

Yoder could face anywhere from a 20 to 40 year sentence.