A cautionary tale. FYI: many people have ended up robbed, raped and/or murdered simply because they left the front door to their house, apartment, hotel/motel room unlocked. Robbery crews oft times will go through neighborhoods. Apartment buildings, college dormitories and hotels/motels trying out front doors to see if they can find one that is unlocked. If they do they’re in business!
Larry Jo Taylor Jr., 18, and Jalen E. Watson, 21, face murder, burglary, theft and several other charges.
An affidavit filed in the case of two men charged with murdering the pregnant wife of an Indianapolis pastor states the suspect accused of killing her leaned over her body after shooting her and "watched her bleed."
Amanda Blackburn, 28, was found partially nude, with her underwear nearby and her shirt pulled up, lying in a pool of blood on her living room floor. She died one day after the Nov. 10 attack on Indianapolis' northwest side.
Her husband, Pastor Davey Blackburn, told police he had left the home's front door unlocked when he departed about 6 a.m. that morning to go to the gym and work out and returned home about 8:20 a.m. to find his wounded wife. The couple's 15-month-old son, Weston, was at home upstairs in a crib but was not harmed in the attack.
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry identified the two men charged with murder as Larry Jo Taylor Jr., 18, and Jalen E. Watson, 21, both of Indianapolis, who face murder, burglary, theft and several other charges. A probable cause affidavit says that Taylor shot Blackburn three times, including once in the back of the head.
WTHR today reported prosecutors filed for a sentencing enhancement against Taylor. That means if he is convicted, Taylor could face an additional 20 years in prison because Blackburn was pregnant.
Court records posted on the station's website state Davey Blackburn called 911 after finding his wife suffering from a severe head wound. It was later determined she had been shot in the left arm, head and possibly in her lower back.
Amanda Blackburn was found nude, with her shirt pulled up and her underwear next to her. "However, it was not clear Blackburn had been sexually assaulted," the affidavit states.
An informant told police about the morning Taylor, Watson and a third suspect not charged in Blackburn's death broke into her home.
"Watson said there was a woman in the house and Watson busted her in the mouth," the court filing stated.
Taylor threw debit cards into the stolen car they were driving and went back inside the house while Watson and the other man withdrew money from an ATM.
They then picked Taylor up and went back to an apartment, where Taylor told the others he killed Blackburn, the affidavit states.
"Taylor stated that she charged at him and he shot her somewhere in the upper body so he would not be scratched," the filing states.
"Taylor then told them he leaned over her body and shot her in the back of the head. He leaned further, looked at her face, and watched her bleed," the affidavit stated.
Davey Blackburn attended Shades Valley and Tuscaloosa County High Schools. His father preached for several years at Brookview Wesleyan Church in Birmingham.
The couple's unborn child would have been named Everette "Evie" Grace Blackburn, according to a statement on the Resonate Church website. That is the Indianapolis church the couple started in 2012.
"Amanda made it her life's calling to love and serve everyone she knew. Even more, she has made it her life's mission to see as many people as possible come to know Jesus as their personal Savior. In her death and legacy, we truly believe that even more people will come to a saving faith in Christ," the statement read.
Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said there was no reason to believe that the Blackburns knew the two men charged in Amanda Blackburn's killing.
Watson was released from prison Aug. 6 after completing his second sentence for burglary within the past three years, according to online inmate records from the Indiana Department of Correction.
Taylor also faces misdemeanor public nudity and public indecency charges stemming from an unrelated June incident where he allegedly exposed himself to a woman in a parking lot, court records show.
The third suspect is being held on a parole violation charge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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