Jeremy Sweet
New pretrial and trial dates have been set for the Bartholomew County man accused of neglect of a dependent leading to the death of his 2-year-old daughter in a frigid river nearly one year ago.
At a change of plea hearing Monday in the case of Jeremy Sweet, 40, his defense attorney, Andy Maternowski, moved for a resetting of dates because he told Bartholomew Superior 1 Judge James Worton the prosecution and defense were “still working through discovery.” Prosecutors offered no objection, and Worton reset Sweet’s next pretrial conference for March 13 at 9 a.m. and his jury trial for April 11.
Sweet is accused of intentionally placing his daughter, Emma, in a situation that endangered her life and health and resulted in her death, according to court documents. He was arrested on Thanksgiving Day weekend last year after the little girl’s body was recovered from the East Fork White River by searchers who had combed the area following her disappearance. Emma’s body was recovered downstream from where duck hunters had found Sweet in his submerged truck days earlier.
Sweet faces a Level 1 felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and a Level 6 felony charge of possession of a hypodermic syringe. He remains held in the Bartholomew County Jail on $1.2 million bond, jail officials said.
Separately, court records show Sweet faces unrelated charges in two earlier cases. In a case filed in May 2021, he was charged with Level 5 felony possession of methamphetamine and a Level 4 felony count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Additionally, a case filed in February 2021 charges Sweet with leaving the scene of an accident, a Class B misdemeanor.
