BLUFFTON, Ind. (AP) — A 17-year-old has pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse in the death of a 3-year-old boy.
Zachary Barker of Bluffton also pleaded guilty Wednesday to dealing methamphetamine as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors agreed to drop other charges.
Authorities said Barker was using drugs with 21-year-old Breanna Arnold, the mother of 3-year-old Owen Collins, and 31-year-old Zachary Barnes the night the boy died from blunt force trauma to his head.
Barnes pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced earlier this month to 50 years in prison.
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Arnold is awaiting trial on charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, manufacturing methamphetamine, obstruction of justice, abuse of a corpse and altering the scene of a death.
The boy’s burned body was found in January outside Bluffton.
