Paul Henry Gingerich

Date of Birth 17 February 1998

Paul Henry Gingerich is currently at 201351 Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility


On April 20, 2010, Phillip Danner was murdered in his Cromwell, Indiana home by his stepson, 15-year-old Colt Lundy, whom he had been abusing.

Colt was the leader of a posse of younger boys he dominated and bullied, sometimes with a BB gun.

Colt enlisted the young boys in a plan to run away to Arizona where his felon biological father lived, and where they’d sell drugs and t-shirts to “drug people.”

He summoned 12-year-olds Chase Williams and Paul Henry Gingerich to his home and surprised them with a twist to the plan they’d never imagined: Colt’s stepfather would have to be killed before they could leave that night.

Colt Lundy ordered 12-year-old Chase Williams to enter the house through a window and serve as his backup. Chase was afraid of Colt and hesitated; Paul Henry protected Chase by climbing through the window instead. But Paul Henry never intended to help kill Danner, whom he’d never even met.

Inside the house, Colt pressed a loaded handgun into Paul Henry’s hand. As the two boys sat in the living room waiting for Danner to appear, Paul Henry tried to talk Colt out of his crazy plan.

Danner appeared in the doorway and suddenly charged, screaming obscenities. Colt fired twice, hitting Danner in the eye and chest. Paul Henry startled and fired twice with eyes closed—he still doesn’t know why. Events had unfolded so quickly and unexpectedly, he hadn’t had time to think.

One of his bullets had gone through a window, but another struck Danner in the side after Colt’s fatal shots.

Paul Henry Gingerich is a vulnerable child who was railroaded by the courts of Kosciusko County, Indiana, and has been placed in mortal danger in his present prison setting.

Following his arrest in Illinois—he, Williams, and Lundy were apprehended 200 miles away when a suspicious store clerk alerted police—Paul Henry was questioned without his parents or an attorney present, and did not understand his right to remain silent.

At a rushed waiver hearing for which his attorney was given only four business days to prepare, a police detective misinterpreted the facts of the case (which were being covered up by Colt’s family) and alleged that Paul Henry was involved in a “murder plot” which was, as far as Paul Henry knew until only minutes before, only a runaway plan.

Because of these flagrant abuses and others, Paul Henry was unfairly prosecuted and cruelly sentenced as an adult. He’s only 12.

In an unprecedented move, the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) defied Kosciusko County Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed’s order that Paul Henry should serve his sentence at the Wabash Valley adult prison, where he would surely have been raped or killed.

Citing his small size and young age, IDOC determined that Paul Henry would begin serving his sentence in Indiana’s juvenile prison system. (He’s only 5'3" and 108 lbs.)

Unfortunately, IDOC chose to send Paul Henry to Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility, where half the population are habitual repeat sex offenders up to 22 yrs old. The US Justice Department says it is the second-worst of 195 US youth prisons studied for sexual violence and abuse by inmates and guards. Insiders call Pendleton the “Sex Pit.”

Paul Henry is in grave danger as long as he is there. We’re actively working with IDOC officials to effect his transfer to a safer facility while working through the courts to secure him a fair trial as a juvenile.

The Paul Henry Gingerich Trust Fund is a legal entity established by friends and supporters of Paul Henry for his exclusive benefit; his parents Nicole and Paul Gingerich and family friend Dan Dailey serve as trustees

FREE PAUL HENRY GINGERICH

Paul Henry's Trust Fund Site

Since 2005, Dan, a youth advocate has devoted himself to helping young people who, as a result of extreme abuse, commit parricide.
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