INDIANAPOLIS — Larry Jo Taylor Jr. pleaded guilty to rape and will get a 20-year sentence. His sentencing is set for Nov. 22.
Taylor was sentenced to 86 years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the murder of Amanda Blackburn, as well as additional felonies related to burglaries of multiple homes.
On the morning of Nov. 15, 2015, police responded to reports of break-ins in the 2800 block of Sunnyfield Court, near 38th Street and West Kessler Boulevard North Drive.
Davey Blackburn, Amanda's husband and a then-local pastor, testified at Taylor's trial and said he got up around 4:30 a.m., read his Bible, then went to the gym at about 6 a.m. Davey said he left the door unlocked because they only had one house key at the time and it was on his wife's key ring.
Blackburn said he was at the gym for about an hour. He was on the phone with a friend when he came home, so he stayed in the driveway so his conversation didn't wake his pregnant wife or their toddler.
He entered the house after 8 a.m. when he found Amanda face down, naked on the floor near the fireplace and Christmas tree. She was unconscious and bleeding, so he called 911.
Taylor and two others allegedly saw Davey leave that morning and decided to burglarize his house, with Taylor later allegedly telling his accomplices, "I smoked her."
Taylor was convicted of the following charges in September:
- Murder
- Burglary — Level 1 felony
- Two counts of theft — Level 6 felony and misdemeanor
- Criminal confinement — Level 3 felony
- Two counts of burglary — Level 4 felonies
- Auto theft — Level 6 felony
- Carrying a handgun without a license — Class A misdemeanor