Indiana

13-year-old Indiana boy dies by suicide; family says he was bullied

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2023

13-year-old Indiana boy dies by suicide; family says he was bullied

An Indiana household is mourning the lack of a 13-year-old boy who died by suicide on Monday after, his dad and mom say, he endured a barrage of bullying at his center college.

Now, the varsity district is hiring exterior investigators to probe the allegations.

In a telephone interview with ABC Information, relations of Terry Badger III described a toddler who was outgoing, variety and decided to achieve the most important leagues and play for his favourite workforce, the St. Louis Cardinals.

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“If I needed to describe TB3 in a single phrase, it is a protector,” his uncle, Tony Badger, stated. “When he is on the sector he offers 150%, but when one in every of his teammates is struggling, he is all the time there to assist them out.

“He had the most important coronary heart out of anyone in his household. I assure it,” he added.

Terry was desperate to work together with anybody he met, no matter their age, stated his father, Terry Badger II, who described a second at a highschool soccer recreation the place his son approached a bunch of navy recruits.

“Terry walked proper as much as them and shook all their arms and thanked them for his or her service, and each one in every of them broke down crying,” the daddy stated.

However whilst he displayed a precocious capacity to narrate to others, Terry suffered relentless bullying at Covington Center College, his dad and mom instructed ABC Information.

“He was being made enjoyable of on a regular basis,” his mom, Robyn Badger, stated. “[They] put him down, instructed him he was a loser. Instructed him he was fats and that he ought to kill himself. Children instructed him he sucked at baseball. Each haircut he had they made enjoyable of.

“Something that child did, they made enjoyable of him,” she added.

Terry Badger II stated he met with college workers twice about what his son endured, alleging that in the latest assembly, roughly six months in the past, a trainer instructed him, “There may be nothing we will actually do as a result of they’re youngsters and we’re lecturers and we won’t management all people.”

The trainer, reached by e mail Thursday night time, declined to talk with ABC Information.

In a press release, Brady Scott, superintendent of the Covington Neighborhood College Company, stated the district “is deeply saddened by the tragic lack of fellow Trojan Terry Badger” and introduced an investigation into the claims that Terry was bullied.

“The gravity of this tragic occasion compels us to maneuver ahead instantly with an investigation from a impartial occasion exterior our district. We pledge to be as clear with the outcomes because the legislation will permit,” he stated.

In follow-up emails with ABC Information, Scott didn’t reply questions concerning the alleged conferences with college workers however stated, “As a faculty district we work diligently to supply coaching, steering and assist to our workers and college students in bullying detection and prevention.”

“I can guarantee you that ANY allegation of bullying is taken critically and investigated,” he wrote.

The Covington Police Division didn’t reply to requests by ABC Information for details about their response to Terry’s dying on Monday. A press release launched Thursday night time by Joshua Whittington, the Fountain County coroner, categorized the dying as a suicide.

Terry’s dying got here hours after taking part in baseball, the place he threw a pitch of greater than 70 mph, one in every of many achievements on the sector that Tony Badger, his uncle, stated Terry was pleased with.

“He would come as much as me after tournaments and inform me what number of house runs he hit,” Tony Badger stated about his nephew.

“Even when he had a extremely unhealthy weekend [playing baseball,] he had an excellent weekend.”

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Indiana

New Gov. Braun outlines his agenda and his vision for Indiana

Published

39 minutes ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

New Gov. Braun outlines his agenda and his vision for Indiana

Braun has officially started his term, and reiterated his priorities and vision for the state.

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s a new era for Indiana as the state’s 52nd governor, Mike Braun, was sworn into office. Surrounded by his family, supporters and other leaders in state government, Braun took the oath of office Monday morning downtown at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

In his inauguration speech, Braun called on Hoosiers to use an entrepreneurial drive within themselves to face the challenges of today.

“I am committed to be a governor of not just words, but action as we create a prosperous future for all Hoosiers,” Braun told those gathered, saying part of that action will be addressing the cost of property taxes, an issue already at the top of the new governor’s agenda this legislative session.

“We can accept rising property taxes as an unfortunate fact of life, or explore every avenue to reduce the burden on hard-working Hoosier families and businesses,” Braun said in his speech.

Republican lawmakers have already said a complete overhaul of the state’s property tax system could take several sessions beyond the current one.

But Senate Republicans say they’ll treat property tax reform this session like they will the budget, making it a priority, using Braun’s ideas for reform in the first version of their main property tax bill.

“I guarantee you that we’re going to give it one good shot at getting that back in place where it needs to be,” Braun said. He also spoke about tackling the cost of healthcare.

“We can accept high healthcare costs as inevitable or take on the opaque system to lower costs and increase transparency for all Hoosier families, like I did in my own business 16 years ago,” Braun said.

The 13News political team recaps the first week of the 2025 Indiana legislative session.

In his recently released agenda, Indiana’s new governor said he wants to reform the prior authorization process patients need from their insurance companies before they can get care.

The governor also wants to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who negotiate drug prices and prescription coverage. Braun said Indiana is at a crossroads and the leaders of the state can be risk takers and trailblazers or maintain the status quo.

“We can let government inefficiencies impede our success or reshape government to sincerely serve the people. How about that?” Braun asked.

Building on an oft-referenced theme of an entrepreneurial drive, Braun also said he intends to make Indiana the standard bearer for small business growth, something he knows about personally through his own business.

In a 13News Exclusive, 13News anchor Dustin Grove sat down with Mike and Maureen Braun at their home in Jasper to discuss their life, politics and legacy.

Braun also told those gathered he was committed to being a governor of not just words, but action and that it was time to get to work.

Braun also addressed education. In his recently released agenda, Indiana’s new governor said he wants to implement universal school choice for all Indiana families regardless of their income. He’s also called for a new Office of School Safety as part of his cabinet structure and increasing the starting pay for teachers, along with performance-based compensation.

“We can settle for complacency in our education system or empower parents and prepare our students for the jobs that will power the future,” Braun said.

Republican lawmakers have also voiced support for universal school choice. Democrats have said state money should be used to expand pre-K and help families who need help with childcare, not give more state money to vouchers. As he settles into his new job and office, Braun will be returning to a place he’s certainly knows well.

A decade ago, he served as a state representative before becoming a U.S. senator. Now he returns to a different office, a much bigger one, as Indiana’s 52nd governor.

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Indiana

Republican Mike Braun sworn in as 52nd Indiana governor alongside Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith

Published

8 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Republican Mike Braun sworn in as 52nd Indiana governor alongside Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith

Indiana’s 52nd governor, Republican Mike Braun, was sworn into office today.

On both a family Bible and Hoosier President Benjamin Harrison’s inaugural Bible, Braun took the oath of office before a packed theater of public servants and politicos at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. Outgoing Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb watched from the front row, as did former Democratic Gov. Evan Bayh; Indiana’s two U.S. Senators Todd Young and Jim Banks were also in attendance.

Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush administered the oaths of office for Braun, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Attorney General Todd Rokita.

In his first remarks as governor, Braun reflected on Indiana’s settler roots and said he wants to help Hoosiers continue to chart new paths.

“In the face of any challenge, Hoosiers have stepped up to take our state to unprecedented heights, and we’re not going to stop doing it,” he said. “Today, we face a new crossroads. We find ourselves seeking the same freedom and opportunity for which our ancestors journey here, and this time, we don’t have to travel far to achieve it.”

The ceremony was peppered with biographical odes to Braun: the national anthem sung by a glee club from his alma mater Wabash College, the Pledge of Allegiance recited by three of his seven grandchildren, and of course, a rendition of Back Home Again in Indiana by the Indiana National Guard’s 38th Infantry Division Band.

The Jasper businessman can officially say he’s occupied nearly every rank of government, from local school board to state representative, U.S. Senator and now, governor.

Most Hoosiers got to know Braun though his longshot bid for Senate in 2018, during which he bested two better-known candidates in the primary and defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly in the general. One of those primary opponents was Rokita, who on Monday stood beaming on the same stage as Braun, getting sworn in as Braun’s attorney general.

Before Braun’s Senate run, he served in the Statehouse as a representative for one term. His calling card is having led Meyer Distributing in Jasper as CEO for many years.

Braun’s first term as governor coincides with the inauguration of a second Donald Trump presidency ― to whom Braun owes some thanks, since Trump’s endorsement helped him rise above a competitive six-way primary last spring.

He won the November election with about 54% of the vote, 13 percentage points above his Democratic opponent, Jennifer McCormick.

Braun has promised to focus on kitchen-table issues such as addressing property taxes, reducing the costs of health care and growing the small-business economy during his time in office.

Along the theme of charting new paths, each of these issues made an appearance in Braun’s inauguration speech: Rather than “accepting high health care costs as inevitable,” for example, he wants to “take on the opaque system.”

Some of his loudest applause came at the mention of the upcoming inauguration of Trump.

“I am optimistic that the next four years see not only a change of leadership at the state and federal levels, but also a transfer of assumed power from the federal government back to the states,” Braun said.

Micah Beckwith is sworn in as lieutenant governor

Beckwith, the ticket-partner Braun didn’t choose, is likely to keep the culture wars in the conversation, even if Braun would rather not.

The two are inheriting an Indiana that’s made strides in attracting global investment but continues to lag the nation in quality of life measures like health and working wages. And they’ll lead a party that has fissures between moderate, establishment wing and a populist, anti-establishment wing that Trump helped cultivate.

How Beckwith ascended to power encapsulates that split: The delegates at the state convention chose him over Braun’s endorsed candidate. One big question of this administration will be whether these competing viewpoints will impact Braun’s execution of his agenda.

Beckwith is also a staunch believer in Christian nationalism, the idea that the workings of government should be inspired by Christian principles. He quoted lengthily from Christian scripture throughout his remarks following his oath of office, specifically a long passage from the book of Deuteronomy that lists the blessings God would bestow to people who obey him.

He used his limited time, though, mostly to preach a message of unity. Afterward, he received a standing ovation.

“In today’s polarized world, it’s easy to forget that we all share the same dreams for our families, for our communities,” Beckwith said. “We all want to see Indiana thrive.”

Rokita, too, is a willing front-line soldier in the culture wars. His remarks following his inauguration started off soberly, acknowledging the importance of serving justice blindly and fairly. It evolved into a stump speech ticking through the headline-grabbing fights.

“We will make Indiana a truly free state,” Rokita said, rattling off a list of topics that were met with applause: DEI and wokism, transgender participation in sports, immigration, mask and vaccine mandates, “where we can speak our own opinion, especially when it’s not politically correct or establishment-approved, without fear of losing our livelihood.”

This story will be updated.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.

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