A teenager was sentenced to 100 years in prison in Indiana for suffocating his two little brothers to death in 2017, when he was 13, because he wanted to "release them from hell," he told detectives.
A Ripley County judge sentenced Nickalas James Kedrowitz on Tuesday for the murders of his 23-month-old stepsister, Desiree McCartney, in May 2017;
and his 11-month-old stepbrother, Nathaniel Ritz, in July of that same year.
The babies were found unconscious at the family's home in Osgood, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Indianapolis, after being left in the teen's care.
Nickalas Kedrowitz in an image taken while in custody in Indiana.
Ripley County Sheriff's Office
The judge established two 50-year prison sentences, one for each murder, which must be served consecutively, so that he will predictably die in prison.
Ripley County Prosecutor Richard Hertel said Kedrowitz told detectives he was "riding his brothers from hell," adding that he believed the acts were premeditated.
“This was not some kind of impulsive or passionate act, one murder and then another minutes or hours or even days later.
We are talking about months here, so we believe that in this circumstance it is justified and appropriate that the sentences be served consecutively, ”Hertel said in a conference after the sentencing hearing, according to The Associated Press news agency.
Kedrowitz was tried as an adult despite his attorney's arguments that the teen has untreated mental health issues.
Five doctors testified about Kedrowitz's mental capacity to stand trial, according to the Ripley County prosecutor's office: three said he was not capable or competent to answer for his actions, and two established that he was.
The county judge decided to take the latter position.
the first murder
On May 1, 2017, authorities received a call from an Osgood home for a girl who was not breathing.
Desiree McCartney was taken to a hospital in Batesville, Indiana, and then to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, according to an affidavit included in court documents.
Stephen Ritz, who was engaged to Desiree's mother at the time, had asked Kedrowitz to look after the girl while he went into the living room to check on the other children in the home.
The young man later told Ritz that the girl had stopped breathing, local newspaper IndiStart reported.
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Ritz heard at the time that the baby's mother, Christina McCartney, was coming home from work, and she told Kedrowitz, "Go get Mommy."
The woman attempted to give the girl mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until emergency personnel arrived.
Desiree McCartney was pronounced dead on May 6, 2017. An autopsy performed the following day did not conclusively determine the cause of her death.
Two months later
Authorities returned to the family's home in Osgood two months later, on July 20, 2017, for another report of a child not breathing.
Nathaniel Ritz was transported to a Batesville, Indiana hospital and was pronounced dead after midnight on July 21.
A doctor at the hospital said her heart had completely stopped 20 to 30 minutes before emergency personnel arrived at the house.
Court documents indicate that the family had asked Kedrowitz to put the boy to bed after dinner that night.
Minutes later, the teen said "something is not right" with the baby.
"It's not right, it's not moving," the teen said, according to court reports released by IndiStart.
An initial autopsy was also unable to confirm the cause of death.
The first clue: a strange incident
A month and a half after the death of the second child, McCartney called the Indiana Police detective to tell him of a strange incident with the teenager: he had mutilated a kitten to the point of almost killing it.
Then he had asked to see how he was sacrificed.
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The aunt later told police that the teen was having trouble at school;
he had depression, for which he was medicated;
and he used to lie, be strong-willed, and be very self-centered.
In the weeks after the kitten incident, both the teenager and his mother and stepfather underwent psychological tests.
Dr. Linda McIntire told police on Oct. 19, 2017, that she thought Kedrowitz may have been responsible for the deaths of the two boys, according to court documents.
Kedrowitz had made multiple statements to him about "delivering his brothers from Satan and Hell," according to court documents, and violent themes involving "big knives and blazing fire."
When Kedrowitz was asked if he was responsible for "freeing his brothers or causing their death," he did not answer.
Kedrowitz also later told detectives that he didn't want the children to live in the hell he lived in, and
when asked what that hell was
, he replied, "Housework."
He later recounted that he had suffocated the children with a sheet and a towel.
In January 2018, modified autopsy reports for Nathaniel and Desiree were released, stating that both children died of asphyxiation.