COLUMBUS, Ind. — A local man accused of the murder of his great aunt pleaded guilty to the murder Monday morning in Superior Court 1.
Bobby N. Truitt II, 20, who had been staying at various locations when he was arrested in 2020, entered a guilty plea to Level 1 felony murder as part of a plea bargain introduced in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Monday.
Truitt also pleaded guilty to an amended charge, which was changed from Level 1 felony rape to abuse of a corpse, a Level 6 felony, during the court hearing. An additional charge of auto theft was dropped as part of the plea deal.
Truitt was initially accused of sexually assaulting and killing Sharon Lovins, 64 on Sept. 27, 2020 at her home in Waynesville. On Sept. 27, Lovins was raped and killed one day after she bailed Truitt out of the Johnson County Jail, where he had been charged with sexual battery, and offered to let him stay with her temporarily, court documents state.
In a probable cause affidavit, investigators said they believe that after Lovins was killed, Truitt stole her 1995 Ford Explorer and drove it to Indianapolis, where he was reportedly seen inquiring about buying a bus ticket to New York. Two days after Lovins was killed, Truitt was arrested after being found on the street among a group of panhandling homeless individuals, according to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department. During questioning, Truitt admitted that he hit Lovins in the face with a hammer, and then sexually assaulted her before choking her, according to court documents.
Prosecutors and the defense agreed to leave sentencing up to Judge Jim Worton.
Sentencing is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 10 in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
