Cromwell Woman Faces Murder Charge
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
A Cromwell woman was indicted Tuesday on a murder charge in connection with the 1996 death of her stepson.
Sherrie Lynn Cusick, 32, of 11749 Pied Piper Parkway, is being held in Kosciusko County Jail. She appeared for her initial hearing at 9:15 this morning and was taken back into custody without bond. She will be assigned an attorney from the public defenders.
A grand jury was called to investigate the death of Anthony Cusick, 7, who was found dead Nov. 23, 1996, in a closet where a fire was smoldering. The cause of Anthony's death was ruled smoke inhalation.
Anthony was the son of Sherrie's husband, Richard Cusick. Sherrie's stepdaughter Kaelie Cusick, 4, died Aug. 12, 1996, when she fell down a flight of stairs. The grand jury did not indict Sherrie in the death of the little girl, ruling her death was consistent with a fall.
The police investigation began after Anthony died while under Sherrie's care.
According to police reports at the time of the incident, a coat in the closet at Cusick's Lake Wawasee home ignited and gave off toxic fumes and smoke that left the boy unconscious. A neighbor who was searching for the boy said she found him sitting on the closet floor with his back to the wall.
Sherrie Cusick, her 6-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son were in the house with a 13-year-old neighbor. Cusick told police at the time that she began to search the house when her daughter smelled smoke. She said she was unable to locate Anthony, and she went to a neighbor's house to call 911.
Police reported they found three matches in the closet, leading to speculation that Anthony may have been playing with matches.
"A lot of things came out in the grand jury," Det. Sgt. Thomas Brindle of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department said. He described the secret grand jury deliberations as "a lot of witnesses" in the four days of testimony. The law does not allow him to talk about who testified or what was said.
"It was an intense, long investigation," Brindle, the lead investigator, said. "There were a lot of circumstances not adding up."
He said investigators and the prosecutor thought the case would be better turned over to a grand jury instead of filing charges themselves. He said the investigators "never felt comfortable with some of the circumstances" surrounding Anthony's death. [[In-content Ad]]
A Cromwell woman was indicted Tuesday on a murder charge in connection with the 1996 death of her stepson.
Sherrie Lynn Cusick, 32, of 11749 Pied Piper Parkway, is being held in Kosciusko County Jail. She appeared for her initial hearing at 9:15 this morning and was taken back into custody without bond. She will be assigned an attorney from the public defenders.
A grand jury was called to investigate the death of Anthony Cusick, 7, who was found dead Nov. 23, 1996, in a closet where a fire was smoldering. The cause of Anthony's death was ruled smoke inhalation.
Anthony was the son of Sherrie's husband, Richard Cusick. Sherrie's stepdaughter Kaelie Cusick, 4, died Aug. 12, 1996, when she fell down a flight of stairs. The grand jury did not indict Sherrie in the death of the little girl, ruling her death was consistent with a fall.
The police investigation began after Anthony died while under Sherrie's care.
According to police reports at the time of the incident, a coat in the closet at Cusick's Lake Wawasee home ignited and gave off toxic fumes and smoke that left the boy unconscious. A neighbor who was searching for the boy said she found him sitting on the closet floor with his back to the wall.
Sherrie Cusick, her 6-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son were in the house with a 13-year-old neighbor. Cusick told police at the time that she began to search the house when her daughter smelled smoke. She said she was unable to locate Anthony, and she went to a neighbor's house to call 911.
Police reported they found three matches in the closet, leading to speculation that Anthony may have been playing with matches.
"A lot of things came out in the grand jury," Det. Sgt. Thomas Brindle of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department said. He described the secret grand jury deliberations as "a lot of witnesses" in the four days of testimony. The law does not allow him to talk about who testified or what was said.
"It was an intense, long investigation," Brindle, the lead investigator, said. "There were a lot of circumstances not adding up."
He said investigators and the prosecutor thought the case would be better turned over to a grand jury instead of filing charges themselves. He said the investigators "never felt comfortable with some of the circumstances" surrounding Anthony's death. [[In-content Ad]]