Appeals court returns 1972 infant death case to Belleville

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois appeals court has overturned a lower court's decision to dismiss a first-degree murder charge against an Indiana man in a 1-year-old boy's death more than 40 years ago.

Sixty-five-year-old Gary Warwick of Portage, Indiana has twice been charged in the December 1972 death of Joseph Abernathy III.

Those charges were dismissed in both 1974 and again in 2014 when St. Clair County Circuit Judge Robert Haida ruled too much time had passed for Warwick to mount a proper defense.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (bit.ly/1WPWLu0 ) reports the Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon on May 19 rejected the most recent ruling and sent the case back to Haida.

Warwick can appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. His Belleville attorney declined to comment on the ruling.