On April 5, while an inmate at the jail in Mechanicsburg, Piersol was beaten and later reportedly fell from his bunk. He suffered critical head injuries and was flown by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where he died on April 11.
The Champaign County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation into the death in July.
The case was presented Friday to a Champaign County grand jury, which returned the indictments.
If convicted on the murder charge, Butler faces the possibility of life in prison.
According to jail records, Butler was incarcerated in April pending charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, failure to reinstate his license and resisting arrest out of Marysville Municipal Court.
He pleaded no contest to those charges in April, was ordered to pay fines and attend alcohol evaluation and counseling in lieu of a suspended jail sentence, according to court records.
The Tri-County Jail houses inmates from Champaign, Madison and Union counties.
He isn’t currently incarcerated, Talebi said, so a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Butler also has a pending warrant for his arrest from Logan County for failing to appear at a July court hearing on unrelated assault charges.
WPKO radio in Bellefontaine reported in November that Butler was indicted on one count of felonious assault related to a September incident. That warrant was issued July 29.
Investigators have released few details about Piersol’s assault. Jail personnel reportedly told Piersol’s family that he was in a fight about 2 a.m., then went to bed, and possibly suffered a seizure that caused him to fall from his bunk and hit his head on a piece of furniture.
A sheriff’s incident report lists eight other inmates as witnesses to the incident, but doesn’t mention Butler.
Talebi said he doesn’t expect to present additional charges in this case.
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