KOCHER, Richard Lee - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Arraignment is set for Tuesday morning in Fountain Circuit Court for Eddie Heath, 24, of Danville, Ill., who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 5-year-old Richard Lee Kocher. Heath’s arrest came as a result of a Grand Jury indictment; he was arrested in Danville, Ill., waived extradition and was returned to Fountain County. He is being held under $5,000 bond.

  Also arrested on a charge of cruelty to a child in connection with the same event is the child’s mother, Linda Kocher, Hillsboro. She has pleaded “not guilty” to the charge and is free on $1,000 bond.

  The child died Feb. 20 in an Indianapolis hospital of peritonitis and a ruptured blood vessel in his brain. Subsequent investigation by Marion County authorities led to the charges against the two.

  At the time of the child’s death, Kocher and Heath resided together with several children in a trailer home in rural Hillsboro. -s