LOUISVILLE, Ky. Forty-three years after a baby was shaken to death in Louisville, the child's stepfather has been indicted for the murder.
A quest for justice resulted in an arrest across the country in California, and prosecutors are talking about what made it possible after all these years.
It was a small announcement, buried in the Louisville Times. A toddler, Michael Ray Sanders, died on Dec. 15, 1971.
'To have a 20-month-old child die senselessly, we want to show them that someone should be held accountable for this,' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Diane Arnold said.
It's believed little Michael suffered head trauma from being shaken. Now, more than 40 years later, a break in the case.
'Because of the good work of the LMPD detective in this case, we had enough evidence to indict Lawrence Roger Beck for murdering Michael Sanders,' Arnold said.
Arnold said the indictment was possible, in part, because of advances in pediatric forensic medicine over the past four decades
Beck was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles and will be extradited to Kentucky within a few weeks.
Louisville Metro Police's cold case unit is expected to make a statement about the case Thursday morning.
