By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
MARION, Ind. – A Marion man has entered a guilty plea in Wabash Circuit Court to one of two charges filed against him stemming from the April 2018 robbery and death of a LaFontaine man.
Corey Kelch, 23, Marion, pled guilty to robbery, a Level 2 felony, during a change of plea hearing on Tuesday afternoon as part of a plea agreement.
In exchange for the guilty plea, the State of Indiana will drop a murder charge against Kelch.
Circuit Court Judge Robert McCallen III took the plea under advisement. A sentencing hearing was set for 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, at which time McCallen will either accept the plea or reinstate the original charges.
Kelch was arrested on May 4, 2018, in connection with the April 25, 2018, death and robbery of Jordan Richards, LaFontaine.
Richards’ body was found by a home health care nurse who was making a daily check on him. Richards has a medical condition that required a nurse to check on him twice daily.
Richards’ death was initially ruled suspicious by the Indiana State Police on April 25, but by April 27, ISP investigators ruled it was a murder investigation after an autopsy, performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Sozio, found that Richards had died of a gunshot wound.
Kelch is one of two people suspected in Richards’ robbery and death. The other, Kaleb Marin, 21, was one of three people killed in a head-on collision with a Wabash Valley Refuse trash truck on April 29, just days after Richards’ death.
In a related matter, Wabash County Prosecutor William Hartley Jr. told the court that both Kelch and his mother had recently sent Richards’ mother correspondences.
McCallen ordered Kelch to not have any contact with Ms. Richards.
Hartley told the court that Ms. Richards also planned to pursue a similar order against Ms. Kelch.