Grimmett gets 50 years in death of 2-year-old

A man who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to beating a 2-year-old girl to death will serve up to 50 years in prison.

Judge Michael Reed sentenced Christopher Grimmett, 30, Warsaw, to 50 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections in accordance with a plea agreement.

With good time credits and credit for time served, Grimmett could be released in 2050.

Police say Grimmett beat Adalin Stamper to death while he was babysitting her and buried her in the back yard of his brother’s house at 1835 Sue Ave.,  Warsaw, on Nov. 10.

“It’s impossible to make sense out of senseless acts,” Reed said.

County Prosecutor Dan Hampton asked the judge to accept the plea deal.

Hampton talked about the harm that Grimmett had caused.

He said Katie Stamper, the girl’s mother, told him one last memory of Adalin was when Adalin ran out to say she loved her before she left for work.

Hampton said even if  Grimmett gets an early release, he will be on parole for the rest of his life.

He also will have to register as a violent offender, meaning local law enforcement will always be able to know where he is.

In an interview after the hearing, Hampton said he considered going for life in prison for Grimmett. However, with Grimmett’s history of mental illness, he could not file for life due to state law.

Hampton said they never discovered why Grimmett beat the child to death.

“We’ll wonder that forever,” Hampton said.

Katie took the stand during sentencing and addressed Grimmett.

“What did she ever do to you? What made you so angry?” Katie asked him. She told the court how she misses her daughter everyday. “You messed up our lives,” she said.

Katie, who was dating Grimmett at the time, said Grimmett broke her heart.

“You said you loved me and my two girls,” she said.

She said her other daughter, Arabella, asks her every day why Grimmett killed her sister.

“I can only say I don’t know but she’s in heaven now,” Katie said.

Grimmett said he was sorry for what he did.

“I wish I could go back and change what happened,”?he said. “The only thing I can do is be a man and take my punishment.”

Reed ordered Grimmett remanded back to Kosciusko County Jail pending Grimmett’s transfer to the IDOC.