In the summer of 1981, a heartbreaking tragedy unfolded in Indianapolis, forever marking the lives of a family and the city's history. On August 21st, one-year-old Kingston Edward Bell was killed in a violent act that also claimed the lives of his three siblings and two other family members. The young male child's life was cut short in a modest home on the edge of the inner city.
The person responsible for this horrific event was the children's own father, King Edward Bell, a 31-year-old
Vietnam veteran. In a state of desperation fueled by personal and financial turmoil, Bell systematically took the lives of his family members. His victims included his one-year-old son Kingston, his three other children—Berkina Rochelle, age 2, Bertina Michelle, age 4, and King Edward Bell II, age 6—his estranged wife, Bertha Mae Kirby Bell, 26, and his mother-in-law, Mary Alice Kirby, 54. After the killings, he scrawled 'Jesus please take these kids' in chalk above the children's bed.
When police arrived at the scene, King Edward Bell ran out of the house, shouting for them to kill him. He was instead taken into custody and became known as Indianapolis's worst mass murderer. The state sought the death penalty for his crimes. Ultimately, a plea agreement was reached, and Bell pleaded guilty but mentally ill to six counts of murder. He received a 160-year prison sentence.
The following year, King Edward Bell died by suicide in his prison cell at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. He was 38 years old. An investigation into his death revealed that his body had gone undiscovered for more than two days.
