BROWNSTOWN, Ind. – Two men have been charged in connection with the abduction and slaying of a 10-year-old girl whose body was found in a creek, authorities said.
Charles Hickman (search), 20, charged with murder and criminal confinement in the death of Katlyn Collman (search), told investigators her abduction was intended to scare the girl into keeping quiet about methamphetamine activities in her neighborhood, prosecutors said.
The suspect did not speak to reporters as he was led into a courthouse for a hearing Friday.
Another man, Timothy C. O'Sullivan (search), 22, was awaiting a hearing Friday on charges he allegedly gave false information to officers investigating the case.
Court documents filed by prosecutors said that Collman drowned about 15 miles from her hometown of Crothersville. Her body was found Sunday and she had last been seen five days earlier as she walked three blocks home from an errand to buy toilet paper.
Hickman told investigators that Collman was brought to his home by the residents of an apartment near the store where she had shopped, the documents alleged. He said the residents were worried Collman had seen them producing or using methamphetamine and that she might tell others what she had seen, according to the documents.
"They decided to scare her with the hope that she would be intimidated enough to keep her observations to herself," FBI (search) agent James Kouns wrote in an affidavit.
Prosecutors allege that Hickman tied the girl's hands behind her back. Hickman first told investigators the girl tried to run away and fell into the creek, but also said he might have "bumped" her into the water.
Prosecutors had not decided whether to seek the death penalty against Hickman.
The girl's death was the first homicide in 25 years in the town of about 1,600 people some 40 miles north of Louisville, Ky.
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