INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Prosecutor's Office says Malik Halfacre has been sentenced to 145 years in prison after a quadruple homicide in 2021.
Halfacre pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Prosecutors argued for a 180-year sentence, the maximum allowable under law. The judge sentenced Halfacre to 145 years.
“We are thankful for the dignity, grace, and patience the family and the survivor have shown throughout such an unimaginably difficult process,” Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement. “The defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison and this resolution provides finality to the criminal matter, as our community continues to heal from this horrific tragedy.”
Prosecutors agreed to dropped their sentencing enhancement of life without parole as part of the plea deal.
Murder over stimulus check
Police say Halfacre told detectives he wanted his girlfriend's stimulus payment, and an argument led to him shooting her and killing four members of her family:
- 44-year-old Tomeeka Brown
- 35-year-old Anthony Johnson
- 23-year-old Dequan Moore
- 7-year-old Eve Moore
Halfacre's girlfriend survived the shooting after hiding on a neighbor's front porch.
IMPD SWAT officers arrested Halfacre March 14, one day after the shootings. The age of the youngest victim is what disturbs Mears the most.
"I think about the 7-year-old losing her life, and I think everybody asks the same question about the 7-year-old - why?" Mears said. "I have a 3- and 4-year-old."
RELATED: Prosecutor says quadruple murder case qualifies for death penalty; Halfacre formally charged
Rapper helps with victim's funeral
Rapper T.I. and Tiny’s business manager contacted Lavenias Home for Funerals in Indianapolis and provided $6,500 for the funeral expenses for Anthony Johnson II after seeing this story with Johnson's wife, Gwendolyn, on wthr.com.
The wife of victim Anthony Johnson II fought back tears as she talked with 13News about losing her husband in the tragic shooting.
According to Gwendolyn Johnson, her husband, Anthony, had just stopped by the Randolph Street address for a visit and got caught in the crossfire of an alleged domestic dispute that escalated to gunfire.
The couple met a couple years ago at a church function where Johnson was volunteering for a youth program. That's when Gwendolyn caught his eye.
"During the six months of dating is when I fell in love with Anthony because I really was not paying him that much attention," Gwendolyn said. "But he was so persistent about dating me. He was younger than me, so I wasn't taking it that serious. But after about our third date, I was like 'oh, I kind of like him.'"
"He had just celebrated a birthday March 2nd," Gwendolyn said. "He told me that this was the happiest he had ever been. He was happy about his job. He was the number two salesperson on his sales team."