INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman, who authorities said murdered and robbed her next-door neighbor in 2019, was sentenced to 65 years in prison.
Katrina Griffith was convicted in April for her role in the October 2019 murder and robbery of her next-door neighbor, Michael Zdenek.
A little after midnight on Oct. 5, 2019, officers were called to a home in the 700 block of Edgemont Avenue. They discovered Zdenek suffering from significant trauma.
At the time, police said Griffith claimed to be a witness to the crime and was the person who called 911. In her initial statement to authorities, Griffith claimed she had knocked on the victim’s door to ask him to look at a friend’s vehicle to possibly repair it.
When Zdenek came outside, she said a masked individual approached with a handgun and demanded to be let into the home. After demanding money and being refused, she claimed the masked individual shot Zdenek multiple times in the head and chest.
An investigation found Griffith provided multiple inconsistent statements to police about her role in the incident.
"As the investigation continued, it became clear that Griffith likely knew the masked individual and was directly involved in luring the victim into the fatal robbery," the Marion County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
The prosecutor's office said an investigation found Griffith didn't call 911 until 40 minutes after the shooting.
