Timothy Barnett was a 22-year-old Black man and a single father living in Indianapolis. Friends and family remembered him as someone who loved playing football in middle school. At the time of his death, he was raising his young daughter, Jahzara.
On the morning of September 29, 2012, a woman on the city's east side was letting her dogs out when she made a grim discovery. Behind a garage, she saw what appeared to be a person's legs and alerted authorities. The body was identified as Timothy Barnett. An investigation determined he had been shot to death. According to police, neighbors in the area had heard gunshots the night before his body was found.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the homicide, with detective Chris Craighill working the case from the beginning. Years passed without an arrest, but investigators continued to seek leads.
In June 2018, nearly six years after the killing, the department made a renewed public appeal for information. They produced a video about the unsolved crime and shared it on social media platforms, hoping to generate new tips.
"We need to show community we haven’t forgotten, whether someone that lost their life the night before or 5 or 6 years down the line, it’s something that’s still fresh on our minds," an IMPD officer said at the time. Despite these efforts, no arrests have ever been made in connection with Timothy Barnett's death. As of June 2018, his murder remains unsolved.
