Prosecuter Broderick Files Murder Charge Against Inmate

2-22-2010 Indiana:

ANDERSON, IN - Madison County Prosecutor Thomas Broderick, Jr., filed formal charges today against Richard L. Short, 26, a former inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, for Murder and Prisoner in Possession of Dangerous Device, arising from the death of Charles L. Jackson, 52 (Sex Offender) also inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Jackson was stabbed to death with a homemade knife on January 23, 2010. Both Short and Jackson were incarcerated at the Pendleton Correctional Facility at the time. According to the Probable Cause Affidavit Jackson died less than an hour after he was stabbed, but not before telling an officer at the facility that Short had stabbed him.

According to Prosecutor Broderick Short has since been transferred to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility where according to the probable cause affidavit a letter written by Short was confiscated by correction officials in which letter Short admits to stabbing Jackson. Short is also reported to have admitted to State Police investigators that he stabbed Jackson according to the affidavit.

Muncie police investigate stabbing as possible homicide

10-25-15 Indiana:

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Muncie police say they’re investigating the death of a 29-year-old man as a suspected homicide.

Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn says Hector Cedillo Jr. died Thursday from injuries he suffered in an incident on Oct. 16. Muncie police Sgt. Mike Engle tells The (Muncie) Star Press (http://tspne.ws/1H16HoN) that the investigation involves a possible stabbing but would not comment further.

Hahn says an autopsy was scheduled for Friday but results wouldn’t be available until Monday.

The coroner says details of the incident are “sketchy.” He says Cedillo underwent surgery to repair a stabbing wound to the heart.

Update: Prosecutor deems police-action fatal shooting justified

3-27-15 Indiana:

Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt says he will not pursue charges in a police-action shooting that occurred Feb. 25 on Terre Haute's east side. Alexander Phillip Long, wanted on a warrant, died in the shooting.

Modesitt told assembled media at a morning news conference that the shooting was justified.

Officer Kurt Brinegar's actions "were consistent with exercising self-defense or defense of another to prevent serious bodily injury or death or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony," Modesitt stated in a news release.

Long's actions that day "placed many people in danger, including the community and the officers who attempted to arrest Mr. Long on a warrant," Modesitt stated. He issued his decision after reviewing a report compiled by Indiana State Police, who submitted results of their lengthy investigation to him a week ago.

During a news conference, Modesitt told reporters, "This was an unfortunate situation that was caused by the defendant in this case. If at any time he would have complied with the orders and the requests he was receiving from law enforcement, the result would not have been the same. Unfortunately, he refused to comply."

After a thorough investigation, "We've determine officer Kurt Brinegar's actions were justified and there were not any criminal acts committed by any of the officers involved in this case," Modesitt said.

Carjacker was convicted sex offender

4-10-15 Indiana:

The suspect in Thursday’s high-speed pursuit, identified as Don O’Neal Smith, 29, of Elkhart, had prior convictions, according to court records. One of those convictions was rape.

Smith led law enforcement in two states on a high-speed pursuit beginning in Watseka, Ill. Thursday afternoon.

Though the pursuit garnered the attention of multiple media outlets, it was not Smith’s first brush with law enforcement.

In 2003, Smith, 17 at the time, was charged with rape and robbery, class c, in St. Joseph County Superior Court. Smith was convicted of the rape charge in 2005 and was later placed on the state sex offender registry. He was slated as being on lifetime registration.

It is unclear whether or not Smith was convicted of the 2003 robbery charge.

Inmate Stabbed to Death in Carlisle Prison

12-29-2014 Indiana:

A murder investigation is underway at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility following an inmate death.

25-year-old Kango Douglas was stabbed multiple times in the face, neck and head shortly before noon on Friday. The incident took place in the south campus recreation yard.

Indiana State Police detectives and WVCF Internal Affairs investigators have a person of interest linked to the attack.

The offenders identity will not be released pending the outcome of the criminal probe. The suspect has been placed in a restrictive status housing unit.

Douglas was rushed from the WVCF by ambulance to Terre Haute Regional Hospital. He was then LifeLined by helicopter to and Indianapolis hospital. Douglas remained unresponsive for questioning.

Middletown man admits shooting neighbor

8-7-2013 Indiana:

GOSHEN — A Middletown man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Orange County Court to first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of his neighbor, a registered sex offender.

Richard Brown, 69, took the plea in Orange County Court, admitting that he shot and killed 54-year-old Arthur Twyman on Wickham Avenue the night of Feb. 6, 2012. Richard Brown was arrested three weeks later and charged with murder.

In exchange for the manslaughter plea negotiated by Brown's lawyer, Joseph Brown (no relation), and Senior Assistant District Attorney Maryellen Albanese, Brown will get 15 years in prison and four years of post-release supervision by parole.

Richard Brown's wife watched from the courtroom gallery, accompanied by a relative. They have attended each court date.

Twyman's history as a convicted rapist and a registered sex offender didn't factor into his death. There had been tensions between the neighbors before the shooting, officials said at the time.

As he took his guilty plea, Richard Brown initially said he was trying to stop Twyman's dog from killing him. Then, after Judge Nicholas De Rosa moved to cancel the plea and set a trial date, Richard Brown acknowledged that he intended to seriously harm Twyman.

The defendant fired eight rounds from his .22-caliber Marlin rifle, hitting Twyman four times, Albanese told De Rosa.

"And when you did this, your intent was to cause serious physical injury?" De Rosa inquired.

"Yes," Richard Brown answered.

"And your conduct caused his death?"

"Yes."

Mrs. Brown declined to comment on the case.

Richard Brown remains in Orange County Jail, held in lieu of $250,000 bail or $500,000 bond. He'll be sentenced on Oct. 2. ..Source.. by Heather Yakin

Convicted child molester beaten to death at correctional facility

2-16-2013 Indiana:

A convicted child molester is believed to have been beaten to death at the New Castle Correctional Facility.

Jeremiah Taylor was found at the bottom of a stairwell inside the prison Thursday. He was taken to an area hospital and then flown to Methodist Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Taylor had been incarcerated at New Castle since July of 2012, and was serving eight years for a conviction on a Child Molest charge out of Noble County.

An investigation into his death is underway. ..Source.. by FOX59.com

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Prison death investigated as homicide

The Friday death of a New Castle Correctional Facility inmate is being investigated as a homicide.

Jeremiah K. Taylor, 37, of Ligonier in northern Indiana, died Friday morning at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

According to an Indiana State Police press release, Taylor was found unconscious at the bottom of a stairwell inside the prison about 11:05 p.m. Thursday.

He was taken by ambulance to Henry County Hospital, then flown by medical helicopter to Indianapolis.

Investigators believe the inmate’s injuries were “not the result of an accident, but were the result of Taylor having been battered shortly before being found in the stairwell,” the ISP release said.

Taylor had been held at the NCCF since July.

Last June, Noble Superior Court Judge Robert Kircsh sentenced Taylor to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to child molesting, a Class B felony carrying a standard 10-year sentence.

Taylor was charged with molesting a preschooler in 2009, but was apparently not apprehended until 2011.

The judge imposed a 20-year sentence with 12 years suspended. Taylor was scheduled to be released from prison in May 2018, according to state Department of Correction records.

In January, an inmate at the NCCF from Muncie, also a convicted child molester, died of what an autopsy determined to be natural causes.

His sudden death at age 44 prompted that man’s family to express concern that he had suffered a fate he feared, retribution for his crime at the hands of fellow inmates.

However, Mike Smith, public information officer at the NCCF, said at the time that while that man’s conviction might have prompted harassment at other prisons where he was housed, that stigma likely did not follow him to New Castle.

A large segment of the New Castle prison population consists of sex offenders, Smith said. ..Source.. by Douglas Walker