INDIANAPOLIS — The woman accused in the deadly shooting of an Indianapolis coin dealer in 2020 has changed her plea in the case.
As part of a plea deal, Kayla Blankenship will plead guilty to murder in the killing of coin collector Paul Edmonds. The plea agreement calls for a 45-year sentence with other charges being dropped.
The shooting happened in Sept. 2020 as the two sat in a car at a fast food restaurant parking lot, where a coin sale had been arranged.
Days after the shooting, court documents outlined how investigators began investigating the 24-year-old woman. Edmonds, 78, was able to tell officers that he was trying to sell a young woman coins and was meeting her in the Hardee's parking lot, 5950 Brookville Road.
Surveillance video from a nearby store shows Edmonds' car pull into the parking lot next to a red Saturn SUV. A woman got out of the SUV and into Edmonds' car. Moment later, Edmonds' car lurches forward and the woman jumps out while it is still moving. The woman runs back to the SUV and it leaves.
Edmonds was then seen driving to the front of the restaurant. Workers told 13News he came inside and told them, "Call the police. I've been shot."
Edmonds told an officer the woman didn't even get any of his money.
He later died at the hospital.
When officers searched Edmonds' car, they saw a knife, zip tie and a spent bullet cartridge on the passenger floor. Using a cell phone found in Edmonds' car, police were able to use emails to identify Blankenship.
Police found Blankenship's car in Plainfield and arrested her. Police also arrested her boyfriend on an outstanding warrant.
Edmonds owned Diamond Stamp and Coin for 35 years, operating his business from a display case in Shadeland Peddlers & Flea Market.
Jurors had been selected Monday and a trial was about to get underway.
Blankenship will be sentenced May 12.
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