MUNCIE, Ind. — A 21-year-old Muncie man will spend 58 years in prison for murder and robbery that happened in January 2020.
A Delaware County Circuit Court judge sentenced Kevoszia Winston Wednesday morning.
On Jan. 9, 2020, Muncie police officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 2500 block of West White River Boulevard shortly after 11 a.m.
When they got to the apartment complex, police found a male victim, later identified as Seth Barton, who had been shot. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Two witnesses, who said they were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting, spoke with police.
One of the witnesses said Winston and Dimorrea Benning were involved in the shooting and were at the apartment earlier in the day to carry out a previously-arranged drug transaction.
The witness said Winston and Benning returned to the apartment that same day and pointed guns at the three other people inside the apartment, demanding money. According to the witness, Winston and Benning took guns, money and a bag from the apartment.
When Winston and Benning were about to leave, the witness said Winston pointed a gun at Barton, who was allegedly asleep in a recliner, and shot him.
The second witness did not identify the suspects but was able to provide a general description of them and their clothing, which matched the descriptions from the first witness.
Police later located Benning, who initially denied going to the apartment at any time. According to court documents, Benning changed his story multiple times but told police what Winston was wearing at the time of the incident.
Police arrested Winston in Anderson two days later on Jan. 11. Two people with Winston at the time of his arrest admitted to driving from Anderson to Muncie to pick Winston up to hide from police. According to court documents, the two people also admitted to seeing Winston with a tan/brown modified handgun, which was the same gun a witness at the scene described.
A jury deliberated April 22 for just under 5 hours before convicting Winston of murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.
In 2022, the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office has taken four homicide cases to trial, three of which were murder cases and the other dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death. All defendants were convicted as charged and are serving lengthy prison sentences for their crimes.
"I could not be more proud of my staff," said Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman. "We are making Delaware County safer by taking violent felons off the street one case at a time."
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