State prison holding 4 in Indiana boy's starvation death

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Four people charged in a 9-year-old Indiana boy's starvation death have been moved from county custody to state prison.

Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing on Tuesday told the (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star that he made the request because he felt the case's high-profile nature made it difficult to keep them safe. The sheriff says the four are now in Indiana Department of Correction custody.

The sheriff said his department had to keep the four segregated for safety reasons and "we just don't have the means of keeping them safe." Ewing said the move will cost about $112 per inmate per day for the state to house the defendants.

The boy had cerebral palsy. He weighed only 15 pounds when officers found him Feb. 21 at a home near Fontanet, about 60 miles west of Indianapolis.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com