Dad found guilty in 10-year-old son's beating death

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) - A jury on Thursday found a South Bend man guilty of beating his 10-year-old son to death, 24-Hour News 8 news partner WSBT-TV reports.

Terry Sturgis was charged in November after his 10-year-old son, Tramelle, died. The boy's injuries included a broken arm, broken leg, cuts to his head and bruises all over his body, police said, and he also had scars and marks that appeared to come from a switch or whip.

Nine children were in the home when the beating allegedly occured. They told police Tramelle and his 14-year-old brother were tied up with duct tape and beaten by their father through the night. One of the other children told officers the 10-year-old was beaten until he collapsed and lost consciousness.

Two of those children were among 19 witnesses who testified during the weeklong trial, WSBT reports. The defense did't call any witnesses. Defense attorney Jeff Kimmell told jurors Sturgis didn't intentionally kill his son, according to The Associated Press.

Police said Terry Sturgis admitted to police that he beat both brothers with various objects, including his fists, a belt and a wooden club.

During the trial, jurors also saw more than 100 photographs, some of them very graphic pictures of Tramelle's body and significant injuries on his brothers' bodies, WSBT reports.

The jury began deliberations Thursday morning, and the verdict was announced Thursday afternoon. They found Sturgis guilty on all charges he faced - 13 felonies and a misdemeanor - including murder and battery.

The South Bend Tribune revealed in March that an anonymous tipster had alerted the state Department of Child Services to the problems in the Sturgis home.

After the state Court of Appeals dismissed an attempt by DCS to block the story's publication, the newspaper detailed the call, which included this plea:

"Please go tonight. Please go," the caller says. "I'm not saying this just to be saying this. Please go. Something got to be done. ... If they go there right now, they'll see how them kids is beat, if they go there right now, because I don't want it to get on the news and the boy died and then everybody come forward and they gonna say, 'Well, why did nobody come forward from before?'"

Police records showed two officers went to the house, having been told only that 10 children were possibly being abused. Trent told the newspaper at the time that officers went to the home and everything appeared fine. He said unless police have more details to provide probable cause, they cannot enter a house after midnight, pull children aside and ask to look under their shirts for injuries. If an officer saw an injury or blood on a shirt, he would have probable cause.

"If you suspect that (abuse), you can seize the child, but you'd better be able to articulate why you did that," he said.

The Associated Press reports that the 14-year-old testified during the trial that twice in the months leading up to Tramelle's death, a worker from the Department of Child Services visited the family's home and spoke with the children. Both times, the children were instructed by their father to lie about injuries they had, the 14-year-old said.