In the early morning hours of January 9, 2019, the quiet of the Woodlake Apartments complex on the north side of Indianapolis was broken by the sound of what some residents described as a muffled gunshot. Responding to a report of a person shot around 4:20 a.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at the 7400 block of Merganser Drive to find a running vehicle with a young woman inside.
The woman, identified as 19-year-old Svitlana Novotney, a White female, was suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbors reported hearing arguing before the sound of the gunshot. One resident, upon noticing the car, felt something was wrong and called 911. Homicide detectives were called to the scene to begin their investigation, collecting evidence and seeking information from the community to piece together the events that led to Novotney's death. Her killing marked the third homicide in Indianapolis in the new year.
For over a year, the investigation into Svitlana Novotney's murder continued. Then, on April 1, 2020, a significant development was announced. IMPD homicide detectives, in collaboration with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, had secured an arrest warrant for Samuel Newson, who was also 19 years old at the time of the incident. Newson was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of murder for his alleged involvement in the shooting. He was taken into custody and held without bond in the Marion County Jail, awaiting his initial hearing in Marion Superior Court. The specific motive for the shooting and the nature of the relationship, if any, between Novotney and Newson were not publicly disclosed.
