CARTER VETTER - 22 months (2010)- Lincoln NE

Updated: 11:15 AM Oct 14, 2011
Update: Jury Finds Micheal Wills Guilty of Negligent Child Abuse
Lincoln, Neb.

After nearly 24 hours of deliberation, jurors found Micheal Wills Guilty of Negligent Child Abuse in the death of 23-month-old Carter Vetter.

Wills could have been found guilty of three charges. Child Abuse Resulting in Death, Manslaughter or Negligent Child Abuse. Wills received the lesser of the three charges. Negligent Child Abuse is a Class 1 Misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

John Saltzman, Carter Vetter's maternal grandfather, has been at the trial everyday and was devastated with the verdict.

"It feels like we lost him all over again," said Saltzman.

http://www.1011now.com/news/headlines/Wells_Fate_is_in_the_Hands_of_the_Jury_131800243.html

Micheal Wills, the Lincoln man convicted of negligent child
abuse in connection with the death of a 23-month-old, has been
sentenced to one year in jail.

A Lancaster County jury last month acquitted Wills of child
abuse resulting in Carter Vetter's death, opting instead for the
misdemeanor. A year was the most Wills could get on the charge, and
he's already served more than that term while awaiting his trial.

While the courtroom had been nearly full for the trial and
verdict in October, it was almost empty for his sentencing
Wednesday -- likely because Wills' sentence was no surprise.

Still, his attorney argued for less than the maximum, saying
Wills had a fairly minimal record and hasn't been convicted of
allegations involving a chase with deputies.

The state asked for a year.

"The circumstances haven't changed," Deputy Lancaster County
Attorney Amy Jacobsen said. "We still have a dead child here."

Wills turned down a chance to say anything before District Judge
Jeffre Cheuvront gave the sentence, calling it "a very, very tragic matter."

"I don't know whether Mr. Wills was responsible for the death of
Carter Vetter," he said. "There's only one or two people who
probably know the answer to that."

But Cheuvront said the jury did find Wills not guilty of the
more serious offense. And of all the years he's been a judge, he
said it was probably the best group of jurors, who took their job
seriously and were emotionally drained at the end.

The one woman in the courtroom on Vetter's behalf was teary at
the end of the short hearing but said she couldn't comment.

Wills, who has been out of jail since the Monday after the
verdict, walked out of the third-floor courtroom.

"I feel sorry for Carter's family, about their loss," he said.
"But the fact of the matter is, I had nothing to do with it. But
it's definitely a very tragic event that happened."

Wills denied from the beginning that he did anything to cause
the boy's death, but prosecutors believed he had slammed the boy's
head against something, then put him to bed, where his wife later found him not breathing.

Wills spent almost 17 months in jail.

"It was a long, long wait," the 25-year-old said. "I just knew
it was coming. It was just a matter of time."

When asked how it felt to know some still think he caused
Carter's death, Wills said he thought they were hiding from the truth.

Carter's mother, Katrina Saltzman, and her family weren't in the
courtroom Wednesday but expressed frustration after the verdict.

"It feels like we lost him all over again," Carter's grandfather, John Saltzman, said then.

Wills became a suspect after police learned he was left alone to
care for Carter after Wills' wife and Carter's mother ran some
errands the night of March 2, 2010.

Carter was in bed when they came back to the home they shared.

Wills' wife later found Carter in his bed not breathing. And,
despite attempts to revive him, he died at a Lincoln hospital.

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_266228cd-cd84-5a4c-9f91-89c6688d7272.html#ixzz1cfDhuM1M

Wow a poor baby boy was killed and all anyone got was one year. No justice for Carter.