COLUMBUS, Ind. — A local man accused of raping and murdering his great aunt in her home made his first court appearance in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
During an initial hearing through a video conference link on Friday, Bobby N. Truitt II, 19, of 2710 E. Southern Crossing, answered questions posed by Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton.
Truitt was formally charged this week with Level 1 felony murder and rape and Level 6 felony auto theft in connection with the death of Sharon Lovins, 64, who lived in Waynesville.
Lovins was found dead in a bedroom in her home Sept. 28. According to a probable cause affidavit, Truitt had been staying with Lovins after she bonded him out of the Johnson County Jail on Sept. 26 – two days before her body was discovered.
After appointing Benjamin Loheide as Truitt’s public defender, the judge scheduled three court hearings for early next year:
- Feb. 22 at 10:30 a.m., tentative change of plea hearing
- March 8 at 11 a.m., final pre-trial conference
- March 23 at 8:30 a.m., jury trial
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
