IndyStar.com: Crime & Courts
Indiana's leading news source for all the top stories, local news, sports and weather.
Woman gets 63 years for killing mother
An Indianapolis woman was sentenced to 63 years in prison Wednesday for beating her mother to death. Marion Superior Court Judge Lisa Borges gave Victoria Graham, 43, nearly the maximum penalty for murder. A jury convicted her last month of beating...
Ex-IMPD cop gets 17 years in drug plot
A federal judge sentenced a former Indianapolis narcotics detective to 17 years in prison today for his role in a conspiracy to steal money and drugs. Jason P. Edwards, 38, was among three Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested...
Judge: Rape suspect won't be tried as adult
A 15-year-old boy accused of raping a youth counselor at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center won’t be tried as an adult, a judge ruled today. Marion Superior Court Judge Kurt Eisgruber, sitting as special judge, wrote in his decision...
Prosecutors delay charging swim coach
The Marion County prosecutor’s office today sought more time to file formal charges against a swim coach in Lawrence accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. Prosecutor spokesman Marion Massillamany said the initial hearing for Christopher...
Child porn case nets 6-year prison term
A 52-year-old Indianapolis man who was part of an Internet circle that traded child pornography was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison. James M. Tanksley admitted in court he was part of a worldwide electronic bulletin board that...
FBI investigates Ind. man's trip with Nev. girl
LAS VEGAS — A Reno teenager was returning home with her family Tuesday after she sparked a five-day search by abruptly leaving for Indiana with her 29-year-old brother-in-law, Reno police said. The 16-year-old girl, Karamjit Kaur, said she...
Mexican citizen pleads to smuggling cocaine
A man who pleaded guilty to being part of a ring that smuggled cocaine from Mexico to Indianapolis has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison. Twenty-four-year-old Danny Delgado of Juarez, Mexico, will be deported when he completes his...
Judge OKs delay in Schrenker trial
Noblesville — Former money manager Marcus Schrenker wants to tell his side of the story in court, his defense attorney said Tuesday. At a pretrial conference, attorney Chadwick Hill asked a Hamilton County judge to delay his client’s...
2 schools endure arrests tied to sex
Carmel ex-band aide, assistant swim coach at LN are charged Two men accused of abusing their authority at local schools by having sex with young girls have been arrested on sexual misconduct charges. One suspect has been suspended from his job as a...
Man shot from car is upgraded to 'good'
A man who was hit with a shotgun blast on the Far Eastside was upgraded to good condition Tuesday. Ralph L. Fischer, 32, Indianapolis, was shot at 6:30 p.m. Monday while walking in the 3700 block of Mitthoefer Road, according to Indianapolis...
Former teacher will face trial, judge rules
A former Perry Township teacher will still face trial on battery charges involving allegations that he struck a learning-disabled student, a Marion Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. Lawyers for Thomas Cripe, 65, had requested dismissal of the...
Autopsy performed on baby found in bin
An autopsy was done Tuesday on an infant whose body was found in a trash bin on Monday, but police still were not releasing any significant information about the baby. They did say the baby was wearing a diaper, which was why the gender was not...
Man gets 20-year term in bleach attack on wife
Crown Point — A Northwest Indiana man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for pouring bleach into his wife’s mouth while she was sleeping. Ronald Kownacki, 38, Highland, was sentenced Monday in a Lake County court. Kownacki pleaded...
2 schools endure arrests tied to sex
Carmel ex-band aide, assistant swim coach at LN are charged Two high school assistants accused of abusing their authority by having sex with young girls were arrested Tuesday on sexual misconduct charges. A former paid volunteer with the Carmel High...
Police: Baby found in dumpster wore a diaper
Metropolitan police on Tuesday said the body of a baby found in a Northside trash bin was wearing a diaper. The baby’s body was discovered about 12:10 p.m. Monday by two people searching for scrap metal in the trash bin near 2323 N. Illinois...
Homeless man found dead on Eastside
A homeless man was found dead near an Eastside medical office this morning. The man was found in the grass at 10122 E. 10th St., said Lt. Jeff Duhamell, of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. A delivery driver discovered the body at 7...
Teen inmates attack guards in S. Ind. jail
NORTH VERNON, Ind. — Police say three teenage inmates in a southern Indiana jail attacked three guards and briefly held them hostage in an escape attempt. The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department says three inmates stabbed two of the...
Indy man killed working on highway
ST. JOE, Ind. — Police say a pickup truck fatally struck a highway worker in northeastern Indiana, with the driver then fleeing the scene. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department says 22-year-old Andrew Landes of Indianapolis was killed in...
Shotgun blast victim improving
A man who was hit with a shotgun blast on the Far Eastside was upgraded to good condition Tuesday. Ralph L. Fischer, 32, Indianapolis, was shot at 6:30 p.m. Monday while walking along the 3700 block of Mitthoeffer Road, according to Indianapolis...
Police unsure how baby put in trash died
Detectives on Monday were trying to determine whether an infant found dead in a Northside trash bin was stillborn or the victim of a homicide. The baby’s body was discovered about 12:10 p.m. by two people searching through the trash bin near...
Far-Eastside shooting critically injures man
An Indianapolis man was in critical condition after someone shot him in the back with a shotgun on the Far Eastside on Monday. The 32-year-old man was walking with a friend in the 3700 block of Mitthoefer Road about 6:50 p.m when a car pulled up and...
Mexican citizen gets 16 years in drug case
A Mexican citizen who authorities say hired drug couriers for a crime ring that distributed cocaine in Indiana and Ohio was sentenced Monday to more than 16 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker sentenced Danny Delgado, 24, to 200...
Drug ring lands man in prison for 16+ years
A Mexican citizen who authorities say hired drug couriers for a crime ring that distributed cocaine in Indiana and Ohio was sentenced Monday to more than 16 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker sentenced Danny Delgado, 24, to 200...
Man critical after shotgun blast
An Indianapolis man is in critical condition after he suffered a shotgun blast to the back on the Northside Monday. The man was walking with his friend when a car pulled up and someone shot him with a shotgun in the 3700 block of North Mitthoeffer...
Police investigate baby's death on Northside
Metal scavengers discovered an infant’s body today in a trash bin behind a vacant Northside business. Police were saying little about the discovery at 2323 N. Illinois St. They were not sure if the remains were from a full-term baby or possibly a...
Robbers hit TGI Friday’s on Westside
Two men posing as gas company workers robbed a Westside restaurant this morning and stole the manager’s pickup. The bandits wore hardhats, reflective vests and work boots and told David Thompson, 44, they’d come to the TGI Friday’s in the 6900 block...
Police dog nips IMPD officer
An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department dog apparently confused his cops and robbers today. When the canine was let off his leash to chase a burglary suspect in the 1000 block of West 16th Street, he bit one of the pursuing officers instead....
Mother of 3 found slain in her Westside home
As police investigated the death of Kellye Schultz, friends and family gathered outside her Westside home Friday to mourn the woman they remembered as “a beautiful soul.” Police found Schultz’s body about 5 p.m. at the home in the...
Altercation leads to bitten ear, dead dog
Police shot a dog to nab a man suspected of biting off much of a 68-year-old’s ear on the Eastside this morning. Justin R. Acton, 22, was charged preliminarily with felony burglary, robbery residential entry and misdemeanor battery. Police say...
Teen pleads guilty in fatal Brown Co. attack
NASHVILLE, Ind. — Prosecutors have dropped murder charges against a 14-year-old boy who admitted helping his older brother in an attack that killed an 84-year-old man and badly hurt his wife at their central Indiana home. Blade Reed pleaded...
