Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday in two separate cases, including the appeal of a man who was convicted of neglect of a dependent resulting in death after a child in his care died by suicide, according to court documents.
Oral arguments begin at 9 a.m. and will be streamed online.
In Matthew Joseph Dirig v. State of Indiana, 25A-CR-119, appellant Dirig is asking the state’s high court to accept jurisdiction over his appeal in a level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death case.
Dirig was charged with the felony in 2022 after a child in his care died by suicide. According to court documents, Dirig was dating the child’s mother when the incident occurred.
The child, who was seven or eight years old when he died, had previously been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, which meant he was often hyperactive, impulsive and angry, and could be violent to himself and others. When he was in second grade, the child attempted to strangle himself at school with a phone cord, according to court documents.
Dirig and the child’s mother discussed how to discipline the child at home and Dirig changed the lock on the boy’s bedroom door so it could be locked only from the outside, court documents state. When the child had emotionally reactive moments, Dirig and the child’s mother would lock him in his room for five to 10 minutes and stay by the door to monitor him.
In the fall of 2022, the child was hospitalized after an emotionally reactive episode. The hospital instructed Dirig and the child’s mother on a “safety plan” to keep the child safe at home during a crisis, which included removing any items the child could strangle himself with.
In November 2022, Dirig picked the child up from school after an episode. When the two got home, Dirig allegedly locked the child in his room for a least an hour.
Dirig knew the child’s room hadn’t yet been made safe from strangulation hazards but did not check on the child while he was locked in the room, court documents allege. While Dirig played video games in another room, the child strangled himself with an industrial zip tie from Dirig’s work, according to court documents.
A jury convicted Dirig in November 2024, and he was sentenced to 40 years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility.
Dirig appealed the conviction in January 2025 on three issues: 1) whether reversible error occurred in the trial court’s admission of the mother’s testimony that Dirig consumed the child’s prescription medications one month before his death; 2) whether the state presented sufficient evidence to support his conviction; 3) whether errors in the jury instructions constitute reversible error under the fundamental error doctrine.
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s ruling. Dirig is now petitioning the supreme court to take the case on the same three issues.
Also on Thursday, starting at 10 a.m., the court will hear oral arguments in the case De’Andrae Shawn Terrell Brannon v. State of Indiana, 26S-CR-38.
After a bench trial in October 2024, Brannon was found guilty of five charges, including conspiracy to commit dealing in cocaine. The court also found him guilty of being a habitual offender and sentenced him to a total of 34 years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility.
Brannon appealed his conviction for conspiracy to commit dealing in cocaine in December 2024, arguing that the court presented insufficient evidence to support the conviction.
The appellate court affirmed his conviction.
In November 2025, Brannon appealed to the state’s high court, which accepted his petition to transfer.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.