Fatal shooting of 'Mr. Indianapolis' goes to trial, with 2020 unrest playing a key role

Three people who police say committed a string of robberies and fatally shot a former Indiana University football player when protests and riots gripped downtown Indianapolis in 2020 are facing a jury this week.

Marcus Jayon Anderson, Nakeyah Shields and Alijah Jones each face murder and multiple felony armed robbery charges in connection with a 15-minute crime spree the evening of May 30, 2020, that climaxed with the death of Christopher Beaty, 38, near Beaty’s residence.

According to authorities, Beaty, a defensive lineman at Indiana University from 2000 to 2003 whose name now titles a scholarship in the school's football program, was killed near midnight while surveilling the area where he lived after marches over police killings of Black Americans devolved into riots.

“I’m bout to walk around the block now to make sure my building is good," Beaty messaged someone over his phone at 11:35 p.m., according to a probable cause affidavit filed by law enforcement. Minutes later, his body was located by police in the 400 block of North Talbott St.

A glimmer dimmed: Shooting during downtown violence kills Chris Beaty, 'Mr. Indianapolis'

Chaos of 2020 protests and riots to play key role in trial

In their opening statement to the jury Monday, prosecutors argued the three defendants were captured by multiple video cameras and are seen walking on North Talbott St. in the aftermath of Beaty's death. They robbed six people and attempted to rob two more across the span of a city block, deputy prosecutor Anne Frangos said.

But attorneys representing the defendants said the chaos that night makes it too hard for the state or law enforcement to definitively say who is guilty of the crimes.

"There was a lot of unrest - there was a lot of uncertainty," Joshua Puryear, the public defender representing Anderson, said.

Chris Beaty homicide: 2 more suspects charged with murder in 'Mr. Indianapolis' killing

Kyle Cassidy, Jones' attorney, compared Indianapolis police's task of mitigating the riots to "bailing out the Titanic with a soup ladle." He pointed out that prosecutors' reliance on video surveillance hits a dead end around the time Beaty was killed because there are no recordings of, nor witnesses to, Beaty's death.

"After Chris Beaty walks down the steps of his building and out of the frame of (the security) camera, everything that happens to him is gone from human knowledge," Cassidy said.

And Shields' attorney Katreana Gaither highlighted a major unsolved question in the case. Authorities say there were five people total in the group, but one of those individuals still hasn't been identified, according to Gaither.

Because of that, "you can't lay the blame at the feet of Nakeyah Shields," she said, describing Shields as "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

More coverage: IU football names scholarship, team award after Chris Beaty

Months-long police investigation and a grand jury review

Anderson was the first person charged in Beaty's death at the end of a months-long police investigation. Shields and Jones were charged with murder more than six months later when a grand jury indicted the two defendants.

Detectives pieced together cellphone data, victim statements and forensic evidence to help build a timeline of what amounted to some of the most serious crimes to strike downtown during the riots. They took still images from surveillance footage and cast them out to the public - a key decision that helped authorities solicit tips and get the information they needed to identify the suspects.

After his death condolences from across Indianapolis poured in for Beaty, a beloved entrepreneur who returned to his home city and worked in marketing for nightclubs in the years after he graduated. In an interview with IndyStar, a former business partner called Beaty "Mr. Indianapolis" because of how well-connected he was.

"Whoever did this, they have no clue of the void they cost a lot of people," Beaty's past IU roommate Courtney Roby previously told IndyStar. "With everything going on in our country right now, and the negativity that swirls around, just to have one positive light, one glimmer dimmed, it’s unimaginable.”

More: Here's what happened to people charged with crimes during last summer's protests

Trio tied to other shooting during downtown riots

This week's trial, which is expected to last until Thursday and will rely on testimony from around 30 people, brings to a close Marion County's prosecution of the fatal crimes that marred downtown that weekend. Police say the trio is connected to another deadly shooting that occurred early Saturday morning just hours after Beaty's death, and was tried in court last year.

Around 2:20 a.m. on May 31, 18-year-old Dorian Murrell was shot near Monument Circle following an alleged confrontation between a group Murrell was with and two people who had come to downtown to watch the unrest.

More: Tyler Newby, man convicted in 2020 protests shooting, evades prison time

Anderson and Jones were at the hospital where Murrell was transported, according to police. When Jones was interviewed on site by an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detective, he said Murrell was his brother. One of the two people at the other end of the confrontation, Tyler Newby, was prosecuted for shooting Murrell. During Newby's trial, a police officer testified that Murrell would have also been charged in Beaty's death if he were still alive.   Newby claimed he shot Murrell in self-defense, saying he and his long-time friend were approached by a group of people before he was shoved to the ground. He said he fired at the person standing over him. That shot struck Murrell in the heart.  His first trial ended in a mistrial because the jury couldn’t reach an agreement on a verdict. His second trial was in front of a judge, who found him guilty of reckless homicide. Newby was sentenced to probation and is now appealing his conviction.

Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Trial starts over homicide of 'Mr. Indianapolis' during 2020 unrest