Boards murder trial set for January 2025
May 23—ANDERSON — The death penalty trial of Carl Roy Webb Boards II in the fatal shooting of Elwood police officer Noah Shahnavaz won't begin for 19 more months.
The trial has been set for January 2025, which is 29 months after Shahnavaz was shot to death July 31, 2022.
Boards, 42, of Anderson, appeared Tuesday in Madison Circuit Court Division 3 for a hearing where Judge Andrew Hopper set the trial schedule.
As has become customary when Boards appears in court, extra security personnel, members of Shahnavaz's family and a contingent of Elwood police officers were present.
Judge Hopper announced the schedule for the court case with several dates set for witness lists, jury questionnaires and preliminary jury instructions.
He set jury selection to start Jan. 13, 2025. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Hopper has not ruled on the defense's request for a change of venue from Madison County.
The defense wants the trial moved to another county because of the publicity surrounding the July 31 early-morning shooting death of Shahnavaz, 24, following a routine traffic stop of a car driven, allegedly, by Boards. The officer was shot through the windshield of his police cruiser.
The Madison County prosecutor's office contends that the trial could still take place in Anderson with jurors from another county.
Deputy Prosecutor Jesse Miller provided the court and the defense records from Anderson Community Schools and Marion Community Schools. Boards attended schools in those districts.
Miller said he's had difficulty getting records from the Marion County jail and noted that the state is seeking mental health records pertaining to Boards from the Midwest Psychological Center.
Just after 2 a.m. July 31, Shahnavaz stopped a 2012 Buick LaCrosse near the intersection of Indiana 37 and Madison County Road 1100 North. Police have not provided a reason for the traffic stop.
Officers from Elwood and Madison County found the wounded Shahnavaz and administered life-saving measures until medical personnel arrived.
Shahnavaz was taken by ambulance to Ascension St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood and later flown by helicopter to an Indianapolis-area hospital, where he died.
About a half hour after the shooting, Hamilton County officers found the Buick and attempted a traffic stop. After the car continued southbound on Indiana 37, Hamilton County sheriff's deputies pursued and deployed a tire-deflation device in the area of Indiana 37 and 146th Street.
The Buick continued south on Indiana 37 toward Interstate 69. While on I-69, Fishers police used two "precision immobilization techniques." After the second attempt, the Buick struck a median barrier wall. Officers took Boards, who they say was driving the car, into custody without further incident.
Boards was convicted of related charges after firing shots at an Indianapolis police officers in November 2006 after they attempted to stop a car he was driving.
Boards fired six or seven shots from inside his car at officers. The bullets hit the officers' car in the front plate and grill, but the officers weren't injured.
Indianapolis police officers chased Boards and took him into custody. In his car, they found an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun.
Boards was convicted for carrying a handgun without a license, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, felony resisting law enforcement, possession of a controlled substance and criminal recklessness.
Boards was sentenced to jail and was released less than 15 years later. He was released from parole Aug. 16, 2021, less than a year before the shooting death of Shahnavaz.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.
