𝔇𝔬𝔪 𝔓𝔢𝔡𝔯𝔬

Indiana man receives 80 years after the convicted molester of his young relative served roughly seven of a 12-year term. ⠀ Nicholas Stanley, 36, of Elkhart was sentenced Thursday to the maximum in Elkhart County Circuit Court for the June 24, 2025, sh*oting of Allen Cogswell, 35, at the Daylite Inn. ⠀ Cogswell pleaded guilty in 2018 to molesting Stanley’s relative under age 14 and to possessing child p*rnography, with three additional counts dropped in the plea. ⠀ He received 12 years plus probation and was released May 28, 2025, after a judge earlier denied early release over prison conduct violations. ⠀ Stanley testified he went to room 251 intending only to confront and beat Cogswell. ⠀ Seeing him through the window made his brain “explode like a tsunami,” so he retrieved a shotgun from his car, knocked, and fired twice into the head and chest when the door opened. ⠀ “I decided that I had to do what I had to do to protect my family. I had to k*ll him,” Stanley told the jury. ⠀ A jury convicted him of m*rder last month. The sentence is 55 years plus 10 for aggravating factors and 15 for the firearm enhancement, requiring at least 75 percent served. ⠀ Judge Michael Christofeno refused a sudden heat instruction that could have allowed a mansl*ughter conviction, citing time for cool reflection while Stanley walked back to the car. ⠀ Stanley’s attorney plans an appeal on that ruling. ⠀ Cogswell’s mother called the sh*oting “overk*ll.” Stanley’s sister and friends wore shirts reading “de*d ped*philes don’t reoffend” and said they have written lawmakers demanding full terms for such offenders. ⠀ The man who protected his family faces decades while the original offender walked free after serving little more than half his sentence. ⠀ #Elkhart #JusticeSystem