FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   Friday, July 26, 2019

CONTACT:  Tim Bormann  (605) 773-3215

PIERRE, S.D. –  Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg announced today that Derek M. Berman, 29, Pierre, South Dakota, has been indicted by a Hughes County Grand jury on one count of second degree murder, a class B felony, or in the alternative, first degree manslaughter, a class C felony, and one count of aggravated battery on an infant, a class 2 felony. 

The indictment charges that on or about July 12, 2019, Berman committed acts which recklessly caused bodily injury and, ultimately, the death of a 2-month old infant.

Berman is presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Pierre Police Department and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and being prosecuted by Roxanne Hammond, Hughes County State’s Attorney and Deputy Attorney General Robert Mayer of the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.

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