Anthony Wayne Carter
An insanity defense is being planned for an Indianapolis man accused of killing a Bartholomew County woman last spring.
Anthony W. Carter, 50, is charged with murder in the death of 40-year-old Ashley E. Neville. She was killed on April 16, 2023 inside her home along County Road 650S, northeast of Azalia, with her cause of death ruled as a gunshot wound to the head.
During questioning, Carter told investigators a small pistol fired and struck the victim while he was attempting to grab it away from her, according to a probable cause affidavit. Then, Carter told detectives he “wanted to end her suffering” by putting a plastic bag around Neville’s head and using duct tape to secure it. The defendant said he then placed his hand over the victim’s mouth to smother her, the court documents stated.
There was a no contact order intended to keep Carter – Neville’s former live-in boyfriend – away from Neville at the time of the murder, the affidavit states.
Online court records indicate Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton ordered that Carter be examined by clinical psychologists Kevin Hurley and George Parker in January. But those same records don’t indicate whether the mental health specialists have submitted their findings to the judge.
Even after the reports are submitted, legal precedent in Indiana has made it clear that the expert testimony is just an opinion, not conclusive in any way. It is provided as an advisory to assist the jury or judge in determining an individual’s sanity. Those opinions should be considered in totality with other evidence, according to state statutes.
When a insanity defense is used, the defense has the responsibility to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant suffers from a mental defect that rendered them unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct at the time of the offense, the statutes state.
Worton and Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay agreed with Carter’s court-appointed public defender, Greg Long, that more time is needed to prepare for an insanity defense.
The judge set a new change of plea hearing for 10:30 a.m. on June 3, a final pre-trial conference at 11 a.m. on June 17, and a tentative date for a jury trial to begin July 2.
