Gary’s father gets ten years in prison for neglecting three children
A Gary father was sentenced Friday to 10 years for neglecting three children, court records show.
Gabriel Washington, 40, admitted in August to three counts of neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily harm. The prison term was determined under the plea agreement.
Their mother, Jessica Hegwood, was also sentenced to 10 years on July 17 after pleading guilty to three counts of neglect.
The youngest children were between two years and eight months old.
The couple was charged in June 2023 after six children were taken from a Gary home in “deplorable” circumstances on May 31, court records allege.
The oldest child, 11, was playing in a nearby park when Gary police went with an Indiana Department of Child Services worker for a “welfare check” in the 700 block of Adams Street.
The five other children, aged 8 months to 5 years, all appeared “extremely neglected” and “malnourished” in the home.
Later, a physician assistant at a children’s hospital in Chicago told police that the baby had been hospitalized for “days” from starvation to death, according to the affidavit.
Hammond man faces up to 20 years after plea deal in murder case
A Hammond man faces up to 20 years in a murder plea deal.
LaHenry Smith, 38, admitted Friday to voluntary manslaughter in the Sept. 2, 2023, shooting of Demetri Berry.
His sentencing date is December 20.
Hammond police were called to the 900 block of Murray Street around 2:30 a.m. on September 2. There they found the victim, Demetri “Tank” Berry, 44, of Hammond, on the ground.
The witness saw “Weeble” pull out a silver revolver and shoot Berry in the stomach. He walked to the north side of the street and then collapsed. The statement said the shooting appeared unprovoked.
According to court records, an “altercation” ensued.
