In the early morning hours of a March day in 2008, the life of 27-year-old David Scott Hardwick was tragically cut short in Indianapolis. Hardwick, a jewelry store manager, was discovered under a tree outside an apartment complex on Breen Drive, the victim of a fatal gunshot wound to the head. A member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians, he was a father to three children and a stepfather to two.
The investigation into his death led police to a 14-year-old boy named Nevin Brooks. The day after Hardwick's body was found, Brooks was arrested in connection with an armed robbery that occurred about a mile from the murder scene. Investigators connected Brooks to Hardwick's murder through surveillance video showing a boy wearing clothes similar to what Brooks had on, using Hardwick's ATM card at a gas station. Further evidence came in the form of bullets found on the teen that appeared to match the. 38-caliber bullet used to kill Hardwick. His mother also identified him from the video footage.
Prosecutors alleged that Brooks had robbed and killed Hardwick at random. Months after the murder, while the investigation was ongoing, a juvenile court judge, unaware that he was a suspect in the killing, sent Brooks to Boys Town in Nebraska for his involvement in other armed robberies. He was brought back to Indianapolis in January 2009 to face charges of murder and robbery for Hardwick's death.
Nevin Brooks, who was 15 at the time of his sentencing, was tried as an adult. A Marion County judge sentenced him to 55 years in prison for the murder of David Hardwick. During the sentencing, the judge acknowledged the defendant's young age but emphasized the need to protect society from his violent actions.
