6 high-profile criminal cases that will go in front of Indianapolis juries in 2022
Every day there are hundreds of court hearings in Marion County. Some of those are criminal case hearings that stand out among the rest because of the nature of the alleged crimes, and a swell of public interest in how they'll be resolved when they near a trial date.
Here are six high-profile criminal cases scheduled to go in front of a jury in 2022.
Drivers charged in 7-year-old's death
A man and a teen are accused of reckless driving that led to the death of a 7-year-old girl in front of George W. Julian School 57 in Irvington.
Torrell King faces felony charges of reckless homicide and criminal recklessness while driving. The other driver, whose name has not been released, was 17-years old at the time of the crash. She faces similar charges to King, plus a felony of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death and a misdemeanor of operating a vehicle having never received a license.
Police say the fatal crash Sept. 14 happened after a road rage incident between the two drivers.
The teen allegedly cut King's vehicle off and forced it into the median in the 5800 block of East Washington Street. King drove after her. The teen ran a red light and crashed into another car, which collided with 7-year-old Hannah Crutchfield, her mom and a crossing guard as they were outside the school.
A jury trial is scheduled for April.
More: Two drivers charged in death of Hannah Crutchfield, 7, at Irvington intersection
IMPD officers charged with battery
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers Nathaniel Schauwecker and Jonathan Horlock are facing battery and official misconduct felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly using excessive force on protesters during the civil unrest over police killings of Black Americans in 2020.
Indianapolis residents Ivoré Westfield and Rachel Harding said the officers battered them while they were being arrested in downtown Indianapolis shortly after a county-wide curfew took effect May 31, 2020.
Video of the incident that was widely circulated on social media shows officers using batons and pepper balls while arresting the women.
A grand jury indicted the two officers in August 2020. They were placed on administrative duty until their criminal prosecution ends.
Their jury trial is scheduled for March.
More: 2 IMPD officers indicted for battery, misconduct in May arrests of two women amid protests
Drivers charged with death of three teens
Okadema Link and Shantiana Willis are charged with multiple felonies of reckless homicide and causing death when operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Around 1:20 a.m. on May 23, 2020, Link and Willis were in separate cars driving at more than twice the 35 mph speed limit on Kessler Boulevard North Drive near 38th Street, according to police and witnesses. Police said their vehicles reached "highway speed" before colliding and veering off the road.
The car Link was driving struck the three teenage pedestrians, launching them about 100 feet into a grass ditch near an apartment complex, court documents say. The teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Their jury trial is scheduled for March.
More: 2 drivers charged with reckless homicide in hit-and-run that killed 3 teens, police say
Man charged with murder during protests
Tyler Newby is charged with murder for the fatal shooting of a teenager during the 2020 protests over police killings of Black Americans. He has claimed self-defense.
The shooting happened in downtown Indianapolis during the early morning hours of May 31, 2020. Newby and his close friend said they were approached by a group of people near Monument Circle. Newby was then shoved to the ground. He said he fired up at a person standing over him.
The fatal shot hit 18-year-old Dorian Murrell in the heart. Newby turned himself in that morning.
A jury trial in October ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict. His trial has been rescheduled for March.
More: Tyler Newby murder case ends in hung jury, new dates set for November, court says
Former Butler basketball player charged with rape
Former Butler basketball player Carlos "Scooby" Johnson is charged with rape and sexual battery. He was charged in August after being accused of raping a woman in a university dormitory nearly seven months earlier.
When Butler University police responded to an early morning call on Feb. 4 that a woman had been raped, they found the woman naked and bleeding in her bathroom. She told them that a man nicknamed "Scooby" raped her after she fell asleep on a bed in his dorm room.
Police then visited Johnson's room. He answered the door. "I should have told that (expletive) to leave," Johnson allegedly said in front of police.
IndyStar asked the Marion County Prosecutor's Office why there was a nearly seven-month delay between the accusations and Johnson's arrest in August. A spokesperson did not comment on the case.
"Generally speaking, investigations of this nature can take time for various reasons such as forensic testing and subsequent lab results, review of medical records and interviews of the parties involved," the spokesperson said.
Johnson's jury trial is scheduled for April.
More: Why 7 months passed between Butler basketball Scooby Johnson's alleged rape and his arrest
Man accused of confining, fatally shooting 20-year-old girlfriend
Brenen Mosley is charged with murder and criminal confinement with a deadly weapon for allegedly shooting his 20-year-old girlfriend Autumn Garay on Nov. 29, 2020. Mosley first told police Garay shot herself but later admitted to his involvement in the shooting.
Mosley also told police he shot himself after he shot Garay. Officers said he had a graze wound to his head when they responded to the scene of the shooting.
Family told police that Mosley and Garay had a violent on-and-off relationship for years, according to court documents.
His jury trial is scheduled for May.
More: 19-year-old accused of shooting his girlfriend and himself in fatal north-side incident
Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: 6 big cases to go in front of jury in 2022
