Twenty-nine-year-old James Collins says in a court motion that Jennifer Teel described him as "a fit and proper parent" despite the beating. The motion says Collins is the biological father of both children.
He was sentenced in September to six years in prison for battering Teel. He is expected to be released in November 2013.
The Times of Munster reports Teel died in a fire at her Lake Station home Dec. 10.
Firefighters were able to rescue her two boys, 3-year-old Andrew Collins and 1-year-old Landon Teel.
