In a quiet neighborhood on the east side of Indianapolis, the morning of June 1, 2017, was shattered by violence that would leave three people dead. Thirty-four-year-old Jessica Carte was found deceased from gunshot wounds inside a home on Forsythia Drive, alongside 64-year-old Mark Higgins and his 33-year-old son, Keith Higgins. The grim discovery was made after one of the victims failed to show up for work, prompting a welfare check.
Neighbors later recalled hearing what they believed to be gunfire around 8 a.m. that day.
The ensuing investigation into the triple homicide led authorities to a suspect, 24-year-old Kenneth Lancaster. Investigators learned that Lancaster believed Carte had misused his money and owed him a debt. At the time he was identified as a suspect in the murders, Lancaster was already incarcerated in the Hamilton County jail on unrelated charges. The investigation revealed that the entry to the home was not forced. One of the victims' cars, a red Monte Carlo, was reported missing from the scene but was later found abandoned in an alley more than two miles away.
In February 2018, Kenneth Lancaster was formally charged with three counts of murder for the deaths of Jessica Carte, Mark Higgins, and Keith Higgins. After a four-day jury trial in October 2019, Lancaster was found guilty on all three counts. In November 2019, he was sentenced to 170 years in prison for his role in the killings, bringing a measure of closure to a case that had deeply affected the community.
