MUNCIE, Ind. — A Delaware County judge denied a request from 68-year-old Harold "Pookie" Nettles, who was convicted of brutally killing a woman and her child in 1987, to serve out the remainder of his 120-year sentence on electronic home detention.
Brenda Freeman, 28, and her son Michael Tyrone Carmichael, 5, lived with a woman whom Freeman was having a relationship with when they were killed.
The woman allegedly left their shared apartment on Dec. 26, and returned to find the mother and son dead inside three days later.
Nettles had been seen wearing a Harvard shirt and coming out of the residence on Dec. 28. Police also found Freeman's blood on the Harvard sweatshirt, along with bloodstains belonging to him at the scene.
An autopsy revealed 5-year-old Carmichael suffered four stab wounds in the back, one of which went through his heart. He was stabbed a total of 16 times.
Freeman's face alone had 40 separate wounds. She sustained blunt-instrument injuries that police believed were inflicted by a broken steam iron. She suffered at least 70 separate puncture wounds to her chest, back, arms and hands, according to the autopsy.
Nettles had also been seen with scratches on his hands, some of which police thought matched wounds that would have come from the crime scene.
Before imposing Nettles' sentence in 1989, the court called his crime monstrous and that they "shocked the consciousness of the entire community." Judge Robert L. Barnet said then that he detected "no remorse" from Nettles for the killings, and imposed a 60-year sentence on each count, with the order that they be served consecutively.
On July 13, 2023, the prosecuting attorney of Delaware County filed an objection to any modification of Nettles' sentence.
"The mere passage of time does not erase the pain and suffering inflicted at the hands of violent criminals. The defendant herein is not only a convicted two-time convicted killer, he is also a child killer. This prosecuting attorney does not consent to the early release of violent criminals," Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman wrote in an objection to Nettles' requested home detention. "If that means dying in prison, so be it. To quote the court’s sentencing order, '[t]he people of this community have a right to be secure and safe, especially in their own homes, without having to worry about people like the defendant.'"
Nettles is slated for release in May 2047, when he will be 92.
