On a late Tuesday night in May 2016, a sequence of events set in motion by a planned drug deal and robbery culminated in the shooting death of 34-year-old Jamar Watt of the Pittsburgh area. The male victim was one of two men who lost their lives that evening inside an Indiana, Pennsylvania apartment.
The incident unfolded on May 10, 2016, at the Essex House apartment of George Exum, who was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania at the time.
Watt, along with Shawn Richardson, arrived at Exum's residence accompanied by two women, Catherine Hullenbaugh and Consetta Menta. The initial purpose of their visit was to purchase marijuana from Exum. However, the situation escalated as Watt and Richardson had allegedly planned to rob Exum of drugs and money.
Inside the apartment, a violent confrontation ensued. Exum reported to authorities that the two men assaulted him with a tire iron in an attempt to force him to open his safe. In what he would later claim was an act of self-defense, Exum retrieved a. 38-caliber revolver and fired at both men. Watt was shot and died at the scene, while Richardson, who was also shot, managed to flee the apartment but succumbed to his injuries at the Indiana Regional Medical Center.
In the immediate aftermath, police took George Exum, Catherine Hullenbaugh, and Consetta Menta into custody. Exum was initially charged with two counts of criminal homicide and aggravated assault. Hullenbaugh and Menta faced charges of criminal conspiracy to commit homicide and robbery, as their involvement in the planned robbery led to the two deaths.
The legal proceedings that followed saw a significant shift in the charges. The homicide and aggravated assault charges against George Exum were ultimately withdrawn, with the authorities seemingly giving weight to his self-defense claim under the Castle Doctrine, which allows for the use of force to protect one's home. Exum pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver and tampering with evidence. In February 2017, he was sentenced to six months to two years in Indiana County Jail, followed by five years of probation.
Catherine Hullenbaugh and Consetta Menta, the two women who accompanied the deceased, also saw their initial homicide charges change. Both pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. In the fall of 2016, Hullenbaugh was sentenced to three to ten years in prison. In February 2017, Menta received a sentence of two to ten years in state prison for her role in the fatal robbery attempt.
