Indiana Let a Trans Baby Killer Walk Free 30 Years Early and Nobody Told the Prosecutor

April 16, 2026 Cat2, The Left
Kostiantyn Voitenko via shutterstock

Faith Lee was 11 months old when Jonathan Richardson strangled her to death.

Richardson – who now calls himself Autumn Cordellioné – served 23 years of a 55-year sentence.

But he walked out of an Indiana prison last December, and nobody told the prosecutor's office.

Indiana DOC Released Jonathan Richardson Without Notifying Prosecutors

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers learned that Richardson was back in Evansville the way you'd find out a neighbor's dog got loose – from a random citizen who recognized him.

That's it.

"The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office was not notified that this defendant was back in the community," Moers told the Evansville Courier & Press. "They were spotted by a citizen who recognized them from the original court case."

Let that process for a moment.

Richardson strangled an 11-month-old baby girl.

He got 55 years.

He walked out after serving 23 of them – and the prosecutor's office only found out because a civilian happened to recognize him on the street.

The Indiana Department of Corrections didn't send a letter. Didn't make a call. Didn't issue a notice. Nothing.

The ACLU Sued Indiana to Pay for a Baby Killer's Sex Change Surgery

Here's where this story takes a turn that should infuriate every taxpayer in America.

While Richardson was behind bars, the ACLU of Indiana filed a civil rights complaint arguing that denying him gender-affirming surgeries constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

Read that back.

A man who strangled a baby girl – a man who reportedly described his 11-month-old victim as "the little f****** b****" to a corrections officer – was being treated as the victim because Indiana wouldn't pay for his sex change.

The ACLU lawyers called Richardson "an adult transgender female prisoner confined in a male institution."

In court, Richardson's legal team introduced a document he had prepared titled "Surgeries to Reach My Ideal Self" – a wishlist that ran from breast implants and a tummy tuck to gluteal implants, a uterus transplant, and wigs.

A court issued a preliminary injunction ordering Indiana to comply.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita wasn't having it.

"Convicted murderers don't get to demand that taxpayers foot the bill for expensive and controversial sex-change operations," Rokita said. "It lacks all common sense."

He's right.

But here's what nobody's saying out loud: the theory making the rounds in Indiana is that the DOC released Richardson early to avoid paying for the surgeries the court ordered.

Not because he was reformed. Not because he was safe. Because it was cheaper to put him back on your streets than to cover his cosmetic wishlist.

Susan's Law Requires Notification Before Releasing Violent Felons – It Does Not Apply to Richardson

Indiana's Republican legislature saw this disaster coming.

Governor Mike Braun signed House Bill 1250 – now called "Susan's Law" – on March 3, named after Susan Haynie, an Evansville real estate agent killed in her home last August by a convicted felon who had walked out of prison six months earlier without any notification to local police.

The new law requires the IDOC to notify prosecutors, sheriffs, and police chiefs at least seven days before releasing a serious violent felon.

It takes effect July 1, 2026.

Richardson walked out in late December 2025.

Three weeks too late.

Rep. Tim O'Brien, who authored the legislation, put it plainly: "When a violent offender is released from prison, the safety of victims and the community must be the top priority."

Not the surgical wishlist of the person who killed them.

Meanwhile, Richardson has launched an OnlyFans account since his release.

He also filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against President Trump last year, claiming Trump's rhetoric against transgender people caused him to be physically and sexually attacked in prison.

Richardson's exact location in Vanderburgh County is unknown, but one source told Reduxx he has been staying at a women's shelter.

On social media, Richardson describes being in a relationship with another trans-identified man also convicted of killing a baby – Cory Wallace, sentenced in 2016 to 72 years for beating his 4-month-old son to death and setting his house on fire to cover it up.

Faith Lee never got to grow up.

Sources:

  • Anthony Blair, "Trans baby killer quietly freed from prison 30 years early, launches OnlyFans: report," New York Post, April 13, 2026.
  • Genevieve Gluck, "Exclusive: Transgender Baby Killer Released Into Indiana Community 30 Years Before the End of His 55-Year Sentence," Reduxx, April 2026.
  • WBIW Staff, "'Susan's Law' Signed: Indiana to Require Notify Police and Victims Before Release of Violent Felons," WBIW, March 5, 2026.
  • Indiana House Republicans, "Rep. O'Brien Bill to Protect Victims of Violent Crime Passes Committee, Gains Community Support," January 21, 2026.