Nicole Gingerich didn't spend Christmas at home. Instead she was more than 100-miles away, visiting her 14-year-old son in prison. The mother of the youngest person in Indiana ever to be sentenced to adult prison is speaking out about what happened to her son.
"I went from seeing him every day of his life to only being able to see him one and a half to 3 hours a week,” said Nicole. “I felt a tremendous loss."
It's been nearly 3 years since then 12 year old Paul Gingerich helped kill his friend's step-father. Tried as an adult, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Something his mother has struggled with everyday.
"I never accepted it,” said Nicole. “I always thought that it was not right that he was 12 years old and bumped up to the adult system."
Nicole wasn't alone in that thought. An Indianapolis attorney heard about Paul's case and offered to represent him in his appeal for free. Earlier this month they got the news. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed Paul's conviction. Nicole immediately called him.
"I told him and there was a long silence on the phone,” said Nicole. “He didn't say anything. I could just hear him trying to hold back. I could hear him crying."
The appeals court ruled that because Kosciusko County did not give Paul's attorneys enough time to make a case for juvenile court Paul deserved a new trial.
Paul's new trial is not a sure thing yet. The State Attorney General has until January 10th to challenge the appeal ruling. Until then, hope is at an all-time high inside the Gingerich home.