BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of an Indiana man facing murder charges in the death of an infant more than 40 years ago.
That means Gary Warwick, 65, of Portage, Indiana, is now scheduled to appear in St. Clair County court on Dec. 20 in the 1972 death of Joseph Abernathy III. The 1-year-old Abernathy was found dead in a Bellville park.
According to the Belleville News-Democrat, Warwick lived with the boy and his mother at the time.
Warwick was charged in 1972 and again in 2014. But those charges were dismissed each time.
An Illinois appeals court in May overturned the most recent dismissal.
Cathy Altman is the infant’s mother and says she has dreamed that someday the case would go to trial.
