LAFAYETTE, Ind — A Lafayette man who was convicted on three charges related to the death of his 4-year-old relative will be back in court next year to face a murder charge in the case.

A jury found Montrell Jolly guilty last month of neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury, aggravated battery, and battery resulting in death to a person less than 14 years old, but told the judge it was hung on a murder charge. This week, a judge scheduled a new jury trial for the murder charge for May 18, 2026.

Jolly was watching Ke'andre Jolly on July 28, 2023, while the boy's mother went to get groceries at a food pantry. She was gone less than a half-hour. The prosecution believes Montrell abused the boy inside the Lafayette home where the mother and her children were living with her co

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