In the turbulent backdrop of protests for George Floyd in downtown Indianapolis, 18-year-old Dorian Murrell, a Black male, was fatally shot on May 31, 2020. The unarmed teenager was near Market and Pennsylvania Streets around 2:30 a.m. when the incident occurred. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but ultimately succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the heart.
The man responsible for Murrell's death, Tyler Newby, who is white, turned himself in to a Marion County Sheriff's deputy
shortly after the shooting, confessing, 'I don't know who I need to tell, but I just shot somebody,' and surrendered the handgun he had used. Newby, 29 years old at the time, claimed he had been shoved to the ground during an altercation and, fearing he was about to be punched by a Black male standing over him, he fired his weapon. However, a witness stated that Murrell was unarmed and that no punches were thrown. Newby himself told investigators that Murrell had not spoken to or hit him.
Initially charged with murder, Newby's legal journey saw several turns. A jury trial in October 2021 ended in a hung jury, unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Subsequently, an additional charge of voluntary manslaughter was added. The case eventually proceeded to a one-day bench trial in October 2022, where a judge found Newby guilty of a lesser charge of reckless homicide. This conviction was met with dismay by Murrell's family, who viewed it as a 'concrete proof of systemic racism in the court system of Indianapolis.'
In November 2022, Tyler Newby was sentenced to one year of home detention and four years of probation for the killing of Dorian Murrell, a sentence that meant he would not serve time in prison. The outcome of the case continued to fuel the pain and frustration of Murrell's family, who had actively sought what they considered justice for the teenager's death.
