The body of Timmy Wood is exhumed June 21 from Pleasant Home Cemetery. A man has been indicted in the boys death. (Photo by Joe Imel)

A grand jury indicted a Warren County man on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 1998, in the 1996 death of his foster child. Wendell Decker was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Timmy Wood, who was 9 years old at the time. Deckers whereabouts are not immediately known. The indictment which is a formal charge by a grand jury and not proof of guilt came after months of investigation that included the exhumation in June of Timmy Woods body from his rural Barren County grave. It was initially thought that Timmy Wood, who was autistic, died of head injuries suffered in a fall at Deckers Warren County home. Timmy Wood died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., and an autopsy was not performed because of some apparent miscommunication between the two states about the need for the procedure. A consultant in a civil suit filed by Timmy Woods parents, Rena Wood and Hubert Vaughn of Allen County, contended in documents earlier this year that his death was not accidental. The parents sued Decker and LifeSkills, the agency that placed Timmy with Decker. The parents attorney, Richard Downey of Franklin, has advised them not to speak about the case or the indictment and he declined comment. I dont want to interfere in the criminal process, Downey said. Those questions in the civil case prompted Commonwealths Attorney Steve Wilson and Kentucky State Police to review the case and decide it was necessary to exhume the boys body. The civil case had been put on hold while the criminal investigation was conducted and no upcoming hearings in it have been scheduled. Wilson took the death case to the grand jury earlier this month after reviewing the findings of state Medical Examiner Tracy Corey Handy, who determined that Timmy Woods death was not accidental or natural. Handy and state police Detective Steve Fitts testified before the grand jury earlier this month. Wilson gave the grand jury the option of filing a charge for murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter or reckless homicide or no charge at all. Jurors debated for about an hour before deciding on the second-degree manslaughter charge, which means Decker is accused of wantonly engaging in behavior that caused a death, Wilson said.