Nickalas Kedrowitz was a thirteen year old living in Indiana when he would murder his two younger siblings months apart
According to court documents Nickalas Kedrowitz would smother Desiree McCartney, 23 months, and then less than three months later would smother Nathaniel Ritz, 11 months.
The murders would initially go unsolved however soon all of the indicators were pointing at Nickalas Kedrowitz who had a history of hurting animals and making violent statements
Nickalas Kedrowitz would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to one hundred years in prison
Where Is Nickalas Kedrowitz Today
Nickalas Kedrowitz is currently incarcerated at the Pendleton Treatment Facility in Indiana
Nickalas Kedrowitz Current Information
| DOC Number | 287756 | |
| First Name | NICKALAS | |
| Middle Name | J | |
| Last Name | KEDROWITZ | |
| Suffix | ||
| Date of Birth | 11/2003 | |
| Gender | Male | |
| Race | White | |
| Facility/Location | Pendleton Treatment Unit | |
| Earliest Possible Release Date* * Incarcerated individuals scheduled for release on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday are released on Monday. Incarcerated individuals scheduled for release on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday are released on Thursday. Incarcerated individuals whose release date falls on a Holiday are released on the first working day prior to the Holiday. | 08/28/2093 | |
Nickalas Kedrowitz Case
An Indiana teen was sentenced last week to serve 100 years in prison for smothering his two toddler siblings to death less than three months apart in 2017.
Nickalas Kedrowitz, 17, of Osgood, was sentenced to 50 years each in the murders of Desiree McCartney, 23 months, and Nathaniel Ritz, 11 months. Desiree was Kedrowitz’s half-sister and Nathaniel was his stepbrother, according to The Associated Press.
Nickalas Kedrowitz was 13 years old when the babies were slain over the summer of 2017, but authorities tried him as an adult. The Indianapolis Star reported in 2019 that five doctors had testified regarding the teen’s mental competency.
Three of the doctors said he was incompetent to stand trial, while two said he was, the Star reported. A Ripley County judge sided with the minority and ruled that the teen could face a jury.
The AP reported that the teen told investigators he was “saving Desiree and Nathaniel from hell and the chains of fire.” According to court documents, Nickalas Kedrowitz told detectives he “didn’t want them to have to live in the hell that he did,” so he suffocated the children.
When investigators asked him what “hell” was to him, he replied, “chores.” He then asked the detectives if they’d seen the list of daily chores he was required to do, the AP reported.
Nickalas Kedrowitz’s 50-year sentences are to be served consecutively, or one after the other, a judge ruled.
“This wasn’t some sort of heat of passion, one killing and then minutes or hours or even days later. We’re talking months here, so we think that the consecutive part of the sentence was warranted and appropriate in this circumstance,” Ripley County Prosecutor Richard “Ric” Hertel told reporters after the Feb. 2 sentencing hearing.
Kedrowitz’s mother, Christina McCartney, told WTHR in 2018 that she had never seen the troubled side of her son before the murders.
“No mother would ever want to think about that being their son,” McCartney said at the time. “He did great in school. He didn’t show these symptoms. When I found out the truth, I had him put into a mental hospital.”
Nickalas Kedrowitz was convicted last August of two counts of murder. He faced up to 65 years for each killing.
At the time of Nickalas Kedrowitz’s August 2018 arrest, Hertel said the case first began May 1, 2017, when paramedics were called to the home in Osgood where Kedrowitz; his mother, Christina McCartney; his stepfather, Steven Ritz; and three younger siblings lived. When the first responders arrived, they found Desiree was not breathing.
The Batesville Herald-Tribune reported that McCartney told investigators that she arrived home from work to find Nickalas Kedrowitz holding Desiree in a towel.
“Christina said Nickalas told her that he did not think Desiree was feeling good because she was not talking to him,” investigators wrote in a probable cause affidavit Hertel provided to reporters at Wednesday’s news conference.
McCartney began CPR while Ritz called 911, the court document said.
Desiree was taken to Margaret Mary Health in Batesville before being transferred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where she died five days later, Hertel said.
State police investigators started looking into the toddler’s death, as did child welfare workers with the Indiana Department of Child Services. According to the Herald-Tribune, Ritz told detectives that he was bathing Desiree when Nathaniel, then 8 months old, and another child, 1-year-old Abby, began crying in another room.
Ritz said he left Desiree in the tub for a few minutes, with Nickalas Kedrowitz watching over her. When he returned, she was not breathing. The teen told investigators he left her alone for a minute to retrieve some baby wipes, the Herald-Tribune reported.
Both investigations into Desiree’s death were still ongoing July 20, 2017, when paramedics were again called to the family’s home, where they found Nathaniel unresponsive, Hertel said. The boy, like his sister, was taken to Margaret Mary Health, where he was pronounced dead early the next morning.
McCartney told investigators she had asked Kedrowitz to tuck Nathaniel into bed, the affidavit said. A few minutes later, the teen told his mother, “Something is not right with Nathaniel. He is not acting right,” the court document said.
A second detective began investigating Nathaniel’s death, though he and the investigator in Desiree’s death coordinated their efforts since both deaths occurred in the same household, Hertel said during a 2018 news conference.
The investigations, which were already focused on the people living in the household, soon began to focus more sharply on Kedrowitz, Hertel said.
“The police officers start getting some information that’s contained in the probable cause affidavit about some rather disturbing statements that the 13-year-old was making to a variety of different individuals,” the prosecutor said.
Watch Ripley County Prosecutor Richard “Ric” Hertel speak about the case below, courtesy of WRTV.
The probable cause affidavit indicated that multiple people told investigators that Kedrowitz had talked about “some things (he) had done to some kittens,” Fox59 in Indianapolis reported.
That included mutilating a kitten “to the point of almost killing it” at his great-aunt and great-uncle’s home, the news station reported. The great-aunt, who has diabetes and a prosthetic leg, told investigators Kedrowitz told her “with all of her health problems, maybe she just needed to die.”
Kedrowitz made similar statements about an old dog at the home, the court document said.
Kedrowitz’s great-aunt told investigators that the teen mutilated some of her kittens, one so badly that its internal organs were hanging out and it was covered in blood, the Herald-Tribune said.
Kedrowitz admitted to his great-aunt that he got angry when the kitten scratched him and “squeezed (it) really hard,” the newspaper said. When his great-uncle realized the cat needed to be destroyed, Kedrowitz asked if he could go see “the kitten’s brains splattered everywhere,” the court document said.
State police investigators questioned the teen Dec. 13, 2017.
“Nickalas then began to tell us about some dreams he had after (Desiree and Nathaniel) had died,” the affidavit said, according to the Herald-Tribune. “Nickalas started talking about saving Desiree and Nathaniel from hell and the chains of fire. Nickalas said he had help from an angel to free them.”
The detectives asked how the toddlers died. Kedrowitz told them he put a towel over Desiree’s head in the bathroom to “set her free to heaven,” the document said. Investigators said he also admitted that he put a blanket over Nathaniel’s head.
The murder case faced numerous delays over the years, including postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Kedrowitz’s mental competency evaluations.
McCartney, his mother, previously told WTHR that she was heartbroken over her children’s deaths and the fact that her older son was responsible for them. She said she had nightmares about the babies’ last moments.
“What was it like to take that last breath? Did they ask for mommy? Was my daughter gasping for air? What about the baby?” she said, weeping. “They didn’t deserve this.”
Nickalas Kedrowitz: The 13-Year-Old Who Murdered His Baby Sister and Brother
Nickalas Kedrowitz was charged with smothering his half-sister, 2-year-old Desiree McCartney and his stepbrother, 11-month-old Nathaniel Ritz, in 2017. The defendant, who was 13 at the time of the murders, was sentenced to a 100-year prison sentence.
The Osgood, Indiana case shocked the nation not because of a single impulsive act, but because the killings were separated by nearly three months — and because Kedrowitz told police he wanted to free the toddlers from “hell.”
The Victims: Desiree and Nathaniel
Desiree McCartney was 23 months old. Nathaniel Ritz was just 11 months old. Both lived with their mother Christina McCartney, stepfather, and teenage half-brother Nickalas in a small home in Ripley County, Indiana.
First Death: May 1, 2017
On May 1, 2017, first responders were called to the family’s Osgood home when Christina McCartney found her daughter unresponsive. The toddler died in the hospital days later. A coroner determined through a postmortem examination that she died by suffocation due to smothering.
It was not clear whether her manner of death was ruled a homicide at that time, but Kedrowitz, who was not formally accused, was temporarily removed from the home for unspecified reasons.
Second Death: July 20-21, 2017
More than two months after Desiree’s death, Christina called authorities once again when her stepson, Nathaniel, was found unresponsive on July 20, 2017. Nathaniel died shortly after midnight on July 21, 2017. Like Desiree, he died of suffocation due to smothering.
Investigators later concluded that Kedrowitz suffocated Desiree by wrapping a towel around her head and suffocated Nathaniel with a blanket.
The Investigation Turns to Nickalas
An arrest affidavit states that Kedrowitz drew suspicion in September of that year while visiting Christina’s uncle and aunt, Bob and Candice Barker. At the Barker home, Kedrowitz reportedly took their kitten to the basement and tortured it. Candace Barker noted that the pet suffered a puncture-like wound to the head and had deep, open wounds to the body.
Candice Barker described Kedrowitz as “having issues with his temper,” adding the teen was “self-centered.”
Authorities arrested Kedrowitz in August 2018, more than a year after the second death.
The Confession: “Free Them From Hell”
Prosecutor Ric Hertel stated Kedrowitz had confessed to the murders. “There were several remarks that were made to police about freeing the siblings from some sort of hell,” said Hertel.
His mother argued the confession was a reference to his stepdad, who she claimed was abusive. “He [Kedrowitz] witnessed him being mean to the babies,” said Christina McCartney, adding the stepfather would purposely push the children down and lock them in the bedroom. “As a mom, that’s hard to swallow that was going on, and I didn’t know.” McCartney claimed her son acted while under the threat of his stepfather.
McCartney was quick to defend her son: “He’s not the monster that people are trying to portray him as. It’s a mother’s worst nightmare… He’s every mom’s dream child, a boy who doted on his siblings.”
Tried as an Adult at 15
Kedrowitz’s defense tried in vain to show his client had untreated mental illness, but Kedrowitz was found competent to stand trial, allowing him to be charged as an adult. In August 2021, after six hours of deliberation, a Ripley County jury found him guilty for the murders of Desiree McCartney and Nathaniel Ritz.
Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel agreed to the judge’s ruling: “This wasn’t some sort of heat of passion, one killing and then minutes or hours or even days later. We’re talking months here, so we think that the consecutive part of the sentence was warranted.”
The 100-Year Sentence
Kedrowitz was sentenced to 50 years for each of his victims, to be served consecutively — a total of 100 years. Judge Ryan King emphasized the defendant’s lack of remorse.
The defense highlighted prior abuse and PTSD claims, but the court found the premeditation across months outweighed mitigation.
Appeals and Juvenile Law Fight
The Juvenile Law Center argued that developmental differences between youth and adults must inform juvenile sentencing, calling the 100-year sentence unconstitutional. The Indiana Supreme Court denied Kedrowitz’s transfer petition, and the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the sentence in 2022, finding no abuse of discretion.
Where Is Nickalas Kedrowitz Now? 2026 Update
As of 2026, Nickalas James Kedrowitz (DOB circa 2004) is incarcerated in the Indiana Department of Correction, serving his 100-year term. He would be approximately 22 years old and will not be eligible for release until he is in his 80s, effectively a life sentence.
His case is frequently cited in debates about trying 13-year-olds as adults and the constitutionality of de facto life sentences for juveniles.
Why did he get 100 years?
50 years for Desiree McCartney + 50 years for Nathaniel Ritz, served consecutively because the crimes were months apart, not a single incident
Where is Nickalas Kedrowitz now?
Indiana Department of Correction, serving his 100-year sentence.
Did he say why he did it?
He told police he wanted to free them from “hell” and “Satan.”
Was he mentally ill?
Defense claimed PTSD and abuse, but he was found competent to stand trial as an adult.
