Gathering held Monday in Knox honored birthday of slain toddler, Judah Morgan

Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 2:04 PM

A small gathering was held Monday evening at Wythogan Park in Knox in memory of Judah Morgan, on a day that was supposed to be the boy's seventh birthday.

The park remains the final resting place for Judah, after a tree was planted there last summer with his ashes at the base.

Although over three years have passed since Jenna Hullett had seen Judah, Jenna says the pain of losing him is something that still haunts her everyday.

Jenna had raised the boy for almost four years before he was placed back into his biological parents home on April 7, 2021 by Indiana DCS, during what was supposed to be a 'six month home trial.'

The day his biological parents, Alan Morgan and Mary Yoder, were granted custody would be the last day Jenna and her family would ever be allowed to see Judah.

Four-year-old Judah was eventually killed over a potty training incident at the home of his biological parents in rural Hamlet on October 11, 2021, after suffering months of abuse.

In November of 2022, Morgan was sentenced to 70 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to murder, battery, and resisting law enforcement.

In 2023, Morgan had filed for an appeal, claiming the trial court had abused its discretion, and that his sentence was inappropriate. The Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously upheld his sentence. For now, Morgan's earliest release date is in 2073.

In January of 2024, Yoder was sentenced to 42 years after pleading guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and domestic battery to a child. Yoder's appeal was officially filed last week, and coincidentally ordered on Judah's birthday.

Madison Hullett, the Hullett family's youngest daughter who considered Judah to be her little brother, said her family hopes and prays Yoder's appeal is denied like Morgan's had been.

Madison said the appeals have felt like a slap in the face to the Hullett family.

In early 2022, the Hullett family's passion and grief helped push the passing of "Judah's Law."

The Indiana law allows unlicensed caregivers the chance to stop a child form being placed with their biological parents if they pose a threat to the child's safety.

Forever changed by the death of Judah, the Hullett family say they plan on continuing to fight for justice and child abuse prevention in the future.