By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — The boyfriend of Paige Bohne was sentenced Friday to 40 to 60 months in prison for his role in the November 2024 death of 2-year-old Octavia Bohne in Sturgis.
Fredrick Nelson, 32, was sentenced by Probate Court Judge Kevin Kane – who is filling in as 45th Circuit Court judge while Paul Stutesman is on medical leave – on a common law offense of being an accessory after the fact, after previously pleading guilty to the charge. The sentence exceeded the 18-month minimum sentence, with the maximum sentence matching what is allowed for a maximum under state statute for the charge.
Nelson had originally been charged with first-degree felony murder and tampering with evidence in a criminal case, according to the sentencing sheet from 45th Circuit Court. However, those charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal, due in part to the release via Freedom of Information Act request of details and video of the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation into the 2-year-old’s death that was subsequently posted on social media and YouTube, according to prosecutors.
“We have to prove our cases in court, not on Facebook and not in the media, but with evidence,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Gary Gabry said during Friday’s hearing. “Mr. Gipson’s [Nelson’s public defender] gone at length about how it went south. It went south when information that we wanted kept secret was released to the public through FOIA request by the Sheriff’s Department. Our case got undercut.”
Following the hearing, Prosecutor Deborah Davis said the release of the investigation information on social media raised concerns about whether Nelson could receive a fair trial.
In December, Paige Bohne was sentenced to 225 months to 45 years in prison on one count of first-degree child abuse, and to four years and nine months to 10 years in prison on one count of assault with intent to do bodily harm, after pleading no contest to the charges as part of a plea agreement that dropped two other charges in exchange for truthful testimony against Nelson.
According to Bohne’s testimony in a Nov. 12 preliminary hearing in Nelson’s case in 3B District Court, Nelson spent the morning of Nov. 7, 2024 texting with Bohne while he was at work in response to Bohne’s complaints of the 2-year-old crying and not wanting to return to sleep.
In the messages, Nelson said he gave the 2-year-old “two of them things,” which Bohne testified referred to melatonin, and then after Bohne sent a video of the little girl crying, Nelson responded by texting Bohne to “beat her ass,” “shove her face in the couch,” “put something in her mouth again,” “tape her mouth shut,” or “wrap her up,” according to the testimony and court records. Bohne testified later on in the hearing that she didn’t act on those messages. According to the autopsy report, Octavia had a high level of melatonin in her system when she died.
Gabry argued at sentencing, while reading the text messages verbatim, that the texts Nelson sent were “a clear-cut directive.”
Susan Bohne, Octavia’s grandmother, spoke during victim impact statements at sentencing, saying she didn’t feel justice was served in the case.
“I hope you spend the rest of your life miserably unhappy as can be,” she said to Nelson through tears. “You guys shattered my family, and it’ll never be the same. … I hate you.”
Prior to handing down the sentence, Kane said the language used by Nelson in the texts was “very concerning,” and called what happened to Octavia “tragic.”
“As Mr. Gabry said, we don’t normally say those things, things I don’t think would be appropriate for a young little girl,” Kane said. “It is tragic what happened to this little girl, very tragic. … It’s obvious you were influencing throughout this whole thing with Ms. Bohne.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
