Kokomo man gets 50 years for killing his mother

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KOKOMO – A central Indiana man who pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the beating death of his 67-year-old mother has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The Kokomo Tribune reports Howard Superior Judge George Hopkins on Friday accepted the plea deal prosecutors made with Ronald Calvert. The 50-year-old Calvert accepted responsibility for his mother’s death, but did not say why he killed her. An autopsy showed Joyce Philapy died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest.

Calvert’s attorney, Rodney Shrock, asked for a 40-year term, saying Calvert is a different man when he takes his medication.

Philapy’s brother, Jerry Brewer, told the judge he agreed with the terms of the plea, saying Calvert should spend the rest of his life behind bars.