INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indiana Supreme Court won't hear the appeal of a South Bend man convicted of murder and battery for beating his three young sons.
 
The court on Thursday denied a petition for transfer from Terry Sturgis in the 2011 death of his son Tramelle and several counts of battery, neglect and criminal confinement for abusing two other sons who were 9 and 14 at the time.  A St. Joseph County judge sentenced Sturgis to 140 years in prison.

The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected Sturgis' appeal in June.
 
Prosecutors said Sturgis habitually beat and burned his three sons for years, sometimes with a heated screwdriver. Investigators said the abuse occurred in the basement of a home Sturgis shared with his mother and other family members.