INDIANAPOLIS — A man, who pleaded guilty in a deadly downtown Indianapolis shooting after the 2020 protests, will not serve jail time.
Tyler Newby was given a five-year suspended sentence. He will spend a year on home arrest and four years on probation.
Newby told the judge, "I should have never gone out that night."
A judge found Newby guilty of a lesser charge of reckless homicide. A previous trial ended in a hung jury.
Prosecutors had been seeking a murder conviction against Newby for the killing of 18-year-old Dorian Murrell.
Murrell was found shot in the area of Market and Pennsylvania streets around 2:30 a.m. May 31, 2020.
According to court documents, Newby went up to a Marion County Sheriff's deputy and told him, "I don't know who I need to tell, but I just shot somebody." Newby said the incident happened "somewhere near the circle." He also gave the deputy the handgun he used during the shooting.
Newby had picked up a tear gas canister and that is what allegedly led to the interaction between him and the victim. The group the victim was with had asked about the canister and when Newby didn't respond, things allegedly escalated.
In court documents, Newby's friend told them, "Don't worry about it." He told detectives three to four males walked toward him and "kind of pushed him a little bit, but no one hit him."
He said he then looked over and saw Newby on the ground with a male standing over him.
Newby told investigators he had been shoved to the ground and when he rolled over, there was a Black male standing over him and he was afraid he was going to be punched. A witness told police Murrell did not have a weapon and no punches were thrown. Police said Newby also told investigators Murrell did not say anything to him and did not hit him.
Afraid of getting hit, Newby said he pulled out his gun and shot Murrell once in the heart.
Some of the people in the group with Murrell that night were charged with armed robbery and in the murder of Chris Beaty, who was shot and killed a few hours earlier that night downtown.