The Manitowoc County Courthouse was full of emotion yesterday (February 20th) as Timothy Hauschultz was in court for a plea hearing.
Timothy is facing charges including Felony Murder and Child Abuse in the 2018 death of Ethan Hauschultz.
The young boy died after Timothy ordered his nephew, Damian Hauschultz, to punish Ethan by forcing him to carry a heavy log around the yard.
Damian was recently convicted of Reckless Homicide, and was ordered to spend 20 years in prison.
A plea deal was put before Judge Jerilyn Dietz, which would have reduced the charges to two counts of Child Abuse – Intentionally Causing Harm.
However, Judge Dietz shocked those in the courtroom when she denied that plea deal, saying she was “not comfortable” with it.
One person that was pleasantly surprised with the ruling was Ethan’s mother, Andrea Everett.
For the first time since her son’s death, she agreed to an exclusive interview with SeehaferNews.com, where she called the ruling by Judge Dietz “a long time coming.”
“She is doing everything in her judicial capacity to make sure that another family does not need to go through this,” she noted “She’s also setting the precedent that if you do something like this, we will prosecute.”
Andrea told us that her other two children, one of whom is Ethan’s twin, were also placed in Timothy’s home as she struggled with substance abuse.
She called Ethan’s death her “rock bottom” which helped her realize she had to get better.
“It was either I get right or I lose my other two children. I had to make a decision, and it was the best decision I made in my life,” she confessed. “I completed the Manitowoc County Drug Court program. I work in recovery today. I’m a supervisor. I’m a peer support specialist, and I give back to the community.”
As a matter of fact, Andrea celebrated six years of sobriety yesterday.
While the day in court ended with a positive array of emotions, Andrea admitted seeing Timothy in person for the first time in several years was a very emotional experience.
“To be honest, I had to step out for a second. I needed to take my breath,” she admitted. “I needed to collect myself. I just really put my faith in the judge and that she was going to do what was best for the case.”
One aspect of the court proceedings that has left Andrea with a bitter taste in her mouth has been the actions or inactions of Timothy, Damian, and Tina McKeever-Hauschultz throughout the court proceedings.
“The defendants haven’t really taken accountability,” she explained. “Damien didn’t say anything at his sentencing. It just leaves the family with a lot of unanswered questions. I can’t even wrap my head around what happened that day or why it happened. And I’ll just be happy when I can finally say that justice has been served for my son.”
Tina was sentenced to five years in prison for failure to prevent mental harm to a child and failure to prevent great bodily harm to a child.
Andrea praised Judge Dietz’s decision but admits there are plenty of other emotions heading into next week’s trial.
“I’m nervous,” she admitted. “Like I want justice for my son. I want justice for my other children that were abused in the in the home. I want accountability to happen so that my family can start to heal.”
Speaking of those other children, we asked Andrea how they are holding up.
She said that because this case has taken so long to reach this point, they have experienced a roller coaster of emotions.
“I’m just trying to support them the best way that I can. But they’re teenagers, right?” she said. “They are not the ones that should be fighting for justice. We should be fighting for justice for him.”
A motion hearing has been scheduled for 10:00 Monday morning (February 24th), and the trial for Timothy Hauschultz will begin on Tuesday.
