PLYMOUTH (AP) — A man has pleaded not guilty to a neglect charge in the death of an 11-month-old northern Indiana girl found dead in a wooded area.
Thirty-seven-year-old Justin Miller of Hamlet faces one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death after leading police to Mercedes Lain's body last week.
Miller entered the non-guilty plea Tuesday in a Marshall County courtroom and was appointed a public defender.
The girl's death has been ruled a homicide. A prosecutor says Mercedes died from blunt force injuries to the head. Her body was found Aug. 18 in a densely wooded area of Starke County near the Marshall County line.
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