In the early morning hours of September 15, 2019, events unfolded at a Rodeway Inn in South Bend, Indiana, that would end the life of 22-year-old Jenna Lynn Vanhorn. Police were called to the motel on Indiana 933 at approximately 3:45 a.m. with alarming reports of a naked man firing a gun in the parking lot. Upon their arrival and during a search of the more than 100 rooms, officers discovered Vanhorn inside one of the rooms with a fatal gunshot wound.
Her death was later confirmed as a homicide by an autopsy.
The investigation, led by the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit, soon focused on a suspect. A witness reported to police that they had seen a man, identified as Jamie Nathaniel Garner, 'buck naked and pointing a revolver at Vanhorn' as the two were yelling at each other inside the motel room. The witness fled the room to call for help. Investigators found a wallet containing Garner's identification and a vehicle registered to him at the scene.
Less than two weeks later, on September 25, 45-year-old Jamie Nathaniel Garner was apprehended in Detroit, Michigan, at a relative's home. He was subsequently charged with murder and a firearm sentencing enhancement. After being returned to St. Joseph County, the legal proceedings against him commenced. More than three years after the shooting, Garner pleaded guilty to the murder of Jenna Lynn Vanhorn. This plea resulted in a 55-year prison sentence, bringing a measure of closure to a case that had deeply affected the South Bend community.
