A suspect in a Middlesboro case that made national headlines has been indicted after a Bell County grand jury met on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.

Evidence was presented to the grand jury, which returned a true bill on 44-year-old Harvey Gollahan of Middlesboro, WRIL reports. The four-count indictment charges Gollahan with Murder and three counts of Criminal Abuse – 1st degree for his role in the death of 17-month-old Elena Hembree in July of 2023.

The Indictment reads:

Count 1 – Murder by wantonly engaging in conduct which created grave risk of death to E.H., a child under the age of 12, thereby causing the death of E.H.

Counts 2-4 -That between the dates of July 4, 2023, and July 30, 2023 the defendant committed the offense of Criminal Abuse in the First Degree by permitting another person (in his care and control during requisite time) to be abused and thereby causing torture, cruel confinement or cruel publishment.

On July 28, 2023, Elena was taken to the Middlesboro ARH hospital. Due to the extreme nature of her injuries, she was flown to the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, where she died days later on July 30, 2023.

Based on medical evidence, it was determined that Hembree suffered blunt force trauma to the back of her head approximately 48 to 72 hours before being taken to the emergency room. It was also determined that the trauma to the child was not physically apparent but was discovered later by the medical examiner.

Hembree’s mother, Erica Lawson, was originally charged by Middlesboro Lt./Det. Barry Cowan and Officer Caleb Ayers with manslaughter, criminal abuse of a child under 12 years old, failure to report child abuse, and wanton endangerment.

After the Commonwealth Attorney’s office initially sought the death penalty against Lawson, in February of this year, Bell County Circuit Court Judge Keith Nagle signed an order striking the death penalty, changing the first count of her indictment. The judge ruled the case did not meet the requirements to warrant the death penalty, and he changed the wording from “intentionally causing the death” to “wantonly causing the death.”

Gollahan was among several other suspects whose DNA was tested in connection with the case. Through the investigation, it was determined that Gollahan was directly involved in the events and conduct that led to the death of the child.

Officer Ayers presented the case to the grand jury and served Gollahan with the indictment Thursday morning (May 8, 2025) at the Bell County Detention Center, where he was being held on several pending charges from 2024.