(Brookville, IN) – A man convicted in Franklin County on a felony battery charge involving the use of a metal baseball bat has received the maximum sentence.
Franklin Circuit Judge Alex Dudley recently ordered 43-year-old David Neanover of Mt. Carmel to serve a six-year term in the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Jurors found Neanover guilty in May of Battery with a Deadly Weapon (Level 5 felony) following a two-day trial.
The charge stemmed from an incident January 8, 2026 at a home on State Road 252, in which Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Alex Van Winkle, Mt. Carmel Police Officers Jerry Walker and Kate Walker, and Indiana DNR Conservation Officer Shiloh Mast responded.
The victim, who was bleeding on the front porch of the home when Van Winkle arrived, told investigators that Neanover showed up at the house earlier with his two children and raised the issue of a debt.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Neanover then grabbed an aluminum baseball bat that was inside the house, hit the victim with it twice in the head, and then fled the scene.
The victim was treated at the hospital for his injuries.
Neanover was later located at a relative’s home nearby.
He claimed that he picked up the bat upon being approached by the victim and only used it after the victim had nearly choked him to the point of unconsciousness.
However, Deputy Van Winkle did not see any markings on Neanover that would be consistent with his account of the altercation.
Neanover was arrested, charged with felony battery, and was lodged in the Franklin County Security Center while the case awaited a resolution.
At trial, Neanover’s attorneys argued that he acted in self-defense.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Prosecutor Blaine Timonera, presented detailed testimony from the victim about the incident, and Deputy Van Winkle described the steps he and other investigators took during the course of the probe and arrest.
Timonera also presented the testimony of a six-year-old child who witnessed the attack.
A number of bloody photographs and body cam video from the aftermath of the scene were admitted into evidence along with the baseball bat used to strike the victim.
Ultimately, the jury deliberated and rejected Neanover’s self-defense claims and found him guilty.
At the sentencing hearing, Timonera requested the maximum sentence.
Judge Dudley agreed with the State’s recommendation, citing numerous aggravating factors including the physical harm suffered by the victim; the fact that the offense occurred in the presence of children; lack of remorse, and Neanover’s previous criminal history – which includes a prior felony conviction for intimidation and strangulation of his former spouse, who was also present at the scene, and according to testimony at trial, was in a relationship with the victim.
Neanover’s attorneys filed an appeal the next day.
Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp praised his Deputy Prosecutor.
“Cases that involve both self-defense claims and child witnesses can be difficult, to say the least. And this particular trial also presented a number of evidentiary challenges and constitutional considerations,” Huerkamp said. “As I’ve come to expect, not only did Blaine rise to the occasion, he and our team once again showed that it takes real experience, quick-thinking, and persistence to bring a case like this to justice.”
