In the winter of 2020, the life of 33-year-old Steven Brent Nickell was tragically cut short in Gas City, Indiana. A carpenter by trade, Nickell was a man with roots in Morehead, Kentucky, where he was born on May 21, 1986. His life, however, would end violently on February 10, 2020, inside a home in the 6100 block of South Grant County Road 500-E.
This residence belonged to a woman who was not only the half-sister of the man who would take his life but also Nickell's former girlfriend.
The man responsible for Nickell's death was Matthew Shannon Whitt, a 42-year-old from Wabash, Indiana. On that fateful day, Whitt fatally shot Nickell, striking him in the head and chest. In the immediate aftermath, Whitt attempted to deceive authorities with conflicting stories. Initially, he claimed to have been attacked by an intruder whom he had shot in self-defense. He later altered his account, stating that he shot Nickell after Nickell entered the house with a gun. The investigation would later reveal a history of violence between the two men. Just eight days prior to the fatal shooting, Grant County sheriff's deputies had been called to the same address. On that occasion, Nickell reported that he had been beaten by Whitt and another man, foreshadowing the tragic events to come.
Whitt's criminal past, which included convictions for arson and burglary, legally prohibited him from possessing a firearm. The evidence against him mounted, leading to his arrest and subsequent trial. In April 2022, a Grant Superior Court jury found Matthew Shannon Whitt guilty of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and obstruction of justice. For his crimes, he was sentenced to 75 years in prison, bringing a measure of justice for the violent end to Steven Brent Nickell's life.
