Breedlove
One of four suspects charged in a kidnapping, assault and robbery at a local barn was sentenced Wednesday in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 to 20 years, 10 to be served in prison.
Charles A. Breedlove, 19, of 2017 14th St. accepted a plea bargain four weeks ago when he entered a guilty plea to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 2 felony. In exchange, prosecutors dropped Level 3 felony charges of kidnapping, criminal confinement and aggravated battery.
Judge James Worton said that since he entered a judgement of conviction against Breedlove last month, he was legally bound to cap the time served in prison at 10 years.
But at the request of Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay, the judge added a additional 10 years to the sentence. Upon his release from the Indiana Department of Correction, Breedlove will spend five years in a community corrections program, and the remaining five on conventional probation, Worton said.
In addition, Breedlove has agreed to pay restitution to the male victim, who was 19 when attacked, in the amount of $8,587.
The three co-defendants are Emily Franklin, 19, of Commiskey; Zablin “Jai” Woodruff, 19, of 238 N. Hughes St., and Ashton Fields, 18 of 762 Clifty Drive-C. Originally, all four were charged with kidnapping, criminal confinement and aggravated battery. Any defendant convicted on all four counts could face between 19 and 78 years in prison, as well as up to $40,000 in fines.
“This is a flat-out brutal crime,” Worton said. “I remember a time in this town when stuff like this didn’t occur. Those days are gone, sadly. This involved multiple persons who worked together to bring this crime to completion. It’s very concerning to this court that so many of such a young age would commit something this violent.”
No motive for the crime was brought up during the sentencing hearing.
According to investigators, the victim was driven under false pretenses to a barn on Bonnell Road the night of June 2, 2023. A probable cause affidavit states the victim was grabbed by the neck before he was punched in the face.
Investigators wrote that Breedlove and Woodruff took turns with a knife attempting to cut the victim before Breedlove brandished a pistol from his waistband and pistol-whipped the victim, court documents state.
Breedlove pointed a pistol at the victim’s head multiple times and said, “I’m going to blow your head off,” “these are your last minutes on earth” and “this is it,” the police affidavit states.
The victim told investigators Woodruff held him down while Breedlove cut off his hair and cut the skin covering his throat with a pair of scissors, the affidavit states. He later had a liquid thrown on his face that burned his faces and eyes, the police report states. Woodruff and Breedlove unsuccessfully attempted to break some of the victim’s fingers.
After taking the victim’s sweatshirt, shoes and iPhone, the defendants left the barn. The victim went to four different homes for help before he found himself at the residence of Indiana State Police Trooper Rick Roseberry, who called for emergency medical assistance.
The defendant chose not to testify during the sentencing hearing. However, public defender Aaron Edwards read Breedlove’s own words given during a court-ordered interview where he described his crimes as “the biggest mistake of my life.”
Breedlove has a juvenile offense record that goes back to when he was 14 years old, Holden-Kay said. Since that time, he has had 13 referrals to the juvenile justice system, with many of those cases resulting in adjudication, she said. The defendant has also had multiple petitions filed to revoke his probation, the prosecutor said. A pre-sentence investigation states Breedlove is at a high risk of committing similar crimes.
The next court hearing involving one of the co-defendants is a change of plea hearing for Woodruff. It’s currently set at 9:15 a.m. on April 22. The same type of hearing for Fields is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 6.
