Most murders investigated by Indianapolis police involve anger or hostility between two people. Rarely do murder investigations focus on long-standing friendships. An exception was reported by Indianapolis police, who arrested a man suspected of shooting and killing his longtime friend.
The incident is alleged to have occurred in the early evening of March 8. According to the probable cause affidavit prepared by police, two men stopped by the apartment occupied by one of them. According to a witness, both men appeared to by intoxicated. The two men fell asleep. When one of the men attempted to wake his friend and persuade him to leave the apartment, the friend asked who was bothering him. The first man responded, “It’s me, cuz.” At that point, the second man allegedly took out a handgun and shot the first man three times. He then fled from the scene. An autopsy of the victim showed that he was killed by a gunshot wound to the torso.
The suspect in the case was wearing a GPS monitoring device because of a previous conviction. At the time of the alleged shooting, police said that the device was not providing sufficient information to permit police to locate the defendant. The defendant was arrested on March 31 and charged with murder and with being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.
The incident appears to have been witnessed by at least one other person. Information released by police did not indicate the witness’s identity or whether any others witnessed the incident. While the presence of a witness may help the prosecution, the defendant is still entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In any event, the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney could provide significant benefit to anyone in similar circumstances.
Source: RTV6, “Indianapolis man charged with murder of longtime friend,” Jordan Fischer, March 31, 2018
