INDIANAPOLIS — A man was sentenced to 53 years for the 2020 murder of another man during an armed robbery on Indianapolis' northwest side.
A jury convicted Dashawn Williams of murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury after a two-day trial in October.
Williams will serve 50 years in the Indiana Department of Correction under the sentence.
The incident happened Oct. 27, 2020. That night, officers found Michael Williams inside his vehicle after he crashed into a tree line in an apartment complex near 23rd Street and Tibbs Avenue.
Michael Williams had been shot in the head, and his foot was still on the gas pedal. At the time, his mother told investigators he was at home that night and received two calls before leaving the house. The investigation revealed Dashawn Williams was the last person to text the victim.
According to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, surveillance footage of the incident showed the victim's car arrive at an address agreed upon in his final text messages. Then, an SUV pulls up next to the victim's car, and Dashawn Williams gets out, gets into the victim's car, then returns to the SUV.
Surveillance footage later shows Dashawn Williams approaching the victim's car again. They have a brief altercation before two other individuals join Dashawn Williams at the victim's window, and Michael Williams is shot.
During the police investigation, Dashawn Williams confessed he had planned to rob Michael Williams of the gun he had. He also admitted to the altercation with Michael Williams.
Another man, Nathaniel Williams, had also been charged for murder and robbery in the incident, but a jury found him not guilty in March.
“On a night in 2020, a mother saw her son leave their home and never return due to a senseless act of gun violence,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement Thursday. “Too many people in our community experience that pain. It is on all of us to do our part to combat gun violence and prevent incidents such as this from occurring in the future.”