March 17, 2011
03/18/11 At the end of January a Walkerton man plead guilty to a charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in the death of his infant son. At that time, 20 year old Roberto Pedraza Jr. was seeking a plea deal in the death of his 2 month old son Roberto Pedraza III.
Pedraza was caring for the infant while the mother, Whitney Adams, formerly of Plymouth was working. He admitted to shaking and squeezing the baby. On January 18th the infant died from internal and brain injuries.
On Wednesday, March 16th Pedraza appeared before Superior Court I Judge Robert Bowen in the plea agreement for sentencing. Prior to him making his decision on the plea agreement Bowen allowed the investigating officer, Detective Leo Mangus and family members of the victim to speak.
After listening to several the judge rendered his decision and sentencing
Judge Bowen accepted the plea deal that included Pedraza pleading guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in a death. The judge dropped the voluntary manslaughter and battery resulting in death charges. Judge Bowen sentenced now 21 year old Roberto Pedraza Jr. to 30 years in prison with 10 years suspended. He was immediately taken into custody and transported to the Marshall County Jail awaiting transportation to the Indiana Department of Corrections.