On June 7, 2019, Mother again left Child and his infant brother in Keller’s care while she went to work. When she arrived home around 11:45 p.m., she looked in and saw Child sleeping in his crib and did not suspect anything out of the ordinary. Around 6:00 a.m. the following morning, Mother went to Child and noticed bruising on his face and a bite mark on his arm that were not present when she left for work the day before. Child cried and winced in pain whenever Mother touched him. As she undressed Child, she discovered that he was “covered head to toe with bruises.” Id. at 26. She immediately took Child to the local hospital, where he was examined and then referred to Riley Hospital for Children. An examination of Child revealed that he had suffered four compression fractures to his spine; two possible additional backbone fractures; elevated liver enzymes indicating a liver injury; an injury under his tongue; missing patches of hair on both sides of his head; bruising on his right collar bone, back, left ear, thighs, knees, shins, calves, and feet; patternedbruising (in the shape of a circle) to his upper left arm; “significant bruising” to his forehead, left cheek, nose, and under both eyes as well as to his right forearm; and scratches over his hands and feet.Exhibit Volumeat 38.[5]
While at the hospital, Mother texted Keller about Child’s injuries and Keller suggested that his two-year-old daughter inflicted the injuries on Child during normal toddler play. When Mother sent him a picture of the bite mark on Child’s arm, Keller explained that his daughter bit Child and that he “smacked” her and “busted her mouth open” and “made her lip bleed.” Id. at 20, 18, 19.Keller then texted Mother, “yeah ok bitch I didn’t touch your dumbass little low learning crying ass child” and “bitch once again I have video with me and the kids so f*ck you go die or kill yourself I would love for you to do that one more if you killed yourself nice and slowly.”Id. at 21. He also sent a message to Mother that he “DIDN’T TOUCH HIT KICK SMACK PUNCH OR BITE YOUR CHILD.....[CHILD] GOT HIS ASS HANDED TO HIM BY A 2 YEAR OLD GIRL.”
He continued in another text that “if I lose my daughters or I go to jail because of you I swear on everything I love in this world I will make every waking day of your life a living hell I swear I didn’t touch [Child]
During the sentencing hearing, the State played excerpts from the video of Keller’s abuse of Child. The video begins with Keller repeatedly shoving Child into the crease of a couch until he became quiet and then forcefully slapping Child in the back of the head. Keller then directed his two-year-old daughter to jump on Child and as she was jumping on Child’s legs, Keller picked her up and threw her on Child’s head. Less than a minute later, Keller torments Child Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-148 | July 31, 2020Page 6 of 18by muttering in his face and then striking him about the head numerous times with his hand. Keller then placed Child in a smothering headlock for approximately forty seconds. He allowed only Child’s squirming legs to escape the weight of his body. As Keller walked away, he shoved Child’s face into the couch cushion.
About a minute passed and then Keller put Child in another headlock for about thirty seconds, during which Child’s squirming legs were visible. Keller again encouraged his young daughter to jump on Child as he lay crying. Keller then resumed his smothering of Child as Child struggled to free himself. Keller walked away from Child but returned about thirty seconds later, picked up Child, and body slammed him into the couch, keeping his weight on Child for about fifteen seconds as Child struggled beneath him. [10]
About an hour later, Keller repeatedly punched Child’s bottom with the palm of his hand before transitioning to violent thrusts to Child’s lower back as Child was lying face down on the couch. The thrusts were so forceful as to cause Child to bounce about a foot in the air. Before walking away, Keller repeatedly slapped Child’s feet. About three minutes later, Keller is seen holding Child but as he does, he presses Child’s face into his body.[11]
About four hours later Keller held Child parallel to the ground and dropped him about two feet onto a blanket. Five minutes later he slapped Child in the mouth and then kicked him with enough force to cause Child to slide several feet across the floor. Within the next hour, Keller carried Child by his ankles before throwing him on the couch and repeatedly encouraged his daughter to “[g]et him.” Exhibit 17.
Keller also placed Child on top of a couch cushion that was on the floor but standing on its side and forced Child to fall forward and hit the floor headfirst. Keller then jumped on Child—knees first—as his daughter smothered Child’s head with a pillow. About fifteen seconds after Keller removed his weight from Child, Keller forcefully tackled Child.
Keller placed Child on top of the inverted couch cushion again and pushed Child to the floor. He did this numerous times and during one instance, Child’s neck appears to snap backward. As Child was lying face up on the floor, Kellersmothered Child with a pillow and then jumped on the pillow with all his weight, hitting Child’s feet as he squirmed under him. Keller got up and yelled at Child to “get the f*ck up.”
While Keller changed Child’s diaper, he pinched Child’s penis and yelled at him to “Quit!” Id. He then used the palm of his hand to apply pressure to Child’s anus and placed the soiled side of the diaper on Child’s face and pushed it down. After he placed a fresh diaper on Child, Keller used the back of his hand to strike Child six times on his penis. Keller continued to hover over Child and sat his laughing daughter on Child’s face. Keller placed his face next to Child’s and repeatedly screamed, “She got you!”
Child responded by lying silently on the floor. Keller then thrust his elbow into the side of Child’s neck as his daughter hung on his other arm. Keller and his daughter then sat on Child with all their weight for about thirty seconds. About a minute later, Keller smacked Child in the face and threw him on the couch. Child then endured thirteen strikes by a pillow and each time Keller wound up and hit Child with all his might. Keller then drug Child to another part of the couch by his hair.
Over an hour later, Keller returned to body-slamming Child, and he smacked Child five times. When Child continued to cry, Keller picked him up and smacked his bottom twenty-six times. About thirty minutes later, Keller allowed Child to fall from his knee face first into the floor, began texting, and then smacked Child a few more times. Keller forced Child to stand up and as he picked up Child, he growled at him, let him fall back to the floor, and then growled at him again. Keller continued by bouncing Child on his knee while he hopped around on his other leg, grimacing to show his increased effort. Keller also placed a couch cushion on top of Child and then sat on the cushion.
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