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The death of an Ohio boy who was beaten as a baby is drawing the attention of investigators.

Carl Leggett, 14, died Saturday at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center.

The words "apparent homicide" were written next to his name on the Hamilton County coroner's death report Monday.

An autopsy was performed, but so far the cause of his death is not known.

But the cause of his suffering for the past 14 years was well-established in a courtroom back in 2005.

He was beaten when he was a baby.

Leggett was a happy, healthy bundle for his first five months of life.

That ended after a physical beating.

The man convicted of delivering it, Terry Stiles, served eight years in prison for the crime.

The boy's grandmother spoke Monday about the child's death.

"Carl's life was nothing but pain, medications, hospital stays," stated Shannon Jordan, who was at his side year after year.

She related how she'd prepare 48 syringes a day to help manage the boy's pain.

"There's Carl's bed," she said as she pointed to a corner of the front room in the small Mt. Washington apartment. "I slept here (referring to a chair next to the bed) because I couldn't be out of earshot of him ... . So, our life's just been in this room."

A family member at the time the beating happened said Carl's head swelled to three times normal size.

According to investigators, it happened in Arlington Heights when Carl's mother, Sierra Burton, who now lives in Florida, was asleep, leaving her then-boyfriend in charge of watching her son.

"We didn't get a chance to see him walk or anything," she said Monday with tears in her eyes.

"You just need to be careful who you bring around your kids. We thought, or I thought, at the time I could trust him."

Aside from the hospital stays, the boy's existence was largely in the one room and the one bed.

The hurt the mother and grandmother expressed was that the boy never got a chance at life.

"We lost a precious soul and it's not fair because he didn't get the life he was supposed to have," said the grandmother.

"What he did to Carl is, I believe, the direct result why we don't have Carl now," she said.

The funeral for the boy will be Thursday.
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@Brillig
Dec. 11, 2019
A man who served prison time for severely injuring an infant and then was charged with murder 14 years later after the boy died can't legally face murder charges, a judge said.

In a ruling filed Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Judge Lisa Allen dismissed the indictment charging 34-year-old Terry Stiles with murder.

Stiles, of Arlington Heights, pleaded guilty in 2005 to felonious assault involving his girlfriend's 5-month-old son, Carl Leggett Jr. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Prosecutors said the boy suffered "devastating injuries" and was unable to walk, see or eat normally. He died in May at the age of 14.

Three months later, prosecutors charged Stiles with murder.

But in dismissing the case, Allen cited two Ohio Supreme Court decisions that say prosecutors, under most circumstances, can't charge someone with murder in connection with a death after that person has pleaded guilty to a lesser offense.

A murder charge can be filed only if prosecutors, during the plea hearing, reserve the right to file additional charges, the high court has said. Prosecutors in Stiles' case didn't do that.

The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office argued that Carl's death was not foreseeable at the time of the plea. Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a notice that they intend to appeal Allen's decision.

One of Stiles' attorneys, Wilkes Ellsworth, said he is confident the dismissal will be upheld.

Allen's decision, he said, "is in line with the two Supreme Court cases."

Investigators said Stiles, who was 19 at the time, admitted hitting and shaking the infant. He was not the baby's father.

Carl, who suffered brain damage, was never able to walk, see or eat normally, officials said. Family members said his life was filled with pain.

Stiles still faces charges of resisting arrest and aggravated possession of drugs in connection with his arrest.

In September, when police tried to handcuff him, he engaged "in fighting and pulling away," according to court documents. Methamphetamine was found in his pocket.
 
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