Anthony Carter
It took a Bartholomew Superior Court 1 jury three hours to find Anthony W. Carter guilty of murder in the shooting and asphyxiation death of Ashley E. Neville.
But it only took the same six-man, six-woman jury 45 minutes to unanimously recommend the 50-year-old Carter be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Judge James Worton will make the final sentencing decision when Carter is sentenced at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
The 40-year-old victim was killed in the early morning hours of April 16, 2023 inside her home along County Road 650S.
Neville, who was Carter’s former girlfriend, had a restraining order to keep him away from her at the time of her death. Nevertheless, prosecutors concede Neville drove to Indianapolis hours before her death and drove the defendant back to her home along County Road 650S.
While the defense maintained the bullet that fatally wounded Neville in the head went off accidentially, the prosecution said evidence suggests she was already asleep when Carter walked into her bedroom and shot her.
After determining his former girlfriend was painfully dying, Carter maintains he panicked before pulling a bag over Neville’s head and used duct tape wrapped around her neck to “put her out of her misery,” public defender Greg Long said.
But Bartholomew County chief prosecuting attorney Kimberly Sexton-Yeager told the jury nobody would use that method as a form of mercy killing. Instead, both she and Bartholomew County prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay argues the jealous Carter went out of control because the victim refused to let him see her cellphone to find out if she had another lover/
“He was angry,” Sexton-Yeager told the jury. “He wanted to hurt her. He wanted her to die. He wanted to make her suffer.”
As their basis for recommending life without the possibility of parole, the jury agreed the bag and duct tape constituted a form of torture while the victim was still alive. The jury also cited the fact that Carter was on probation for two other crime when he committed the murder.
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After two-and-a-half days of testimony, the jury in the Anthony Carter murder trial began deliberations this morning in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
Carter, 50, of Indianapolis is charged with killing Ashley E. Neville. The 40-year-old victim was killed in the early morning hours of April 16, 2023 inside her home along County Road 650S.
Neville, who was Carter’s former girlfriend, had a restraining order issued against him at the time of her death. Nevertheless, prosecutors concede Neville drove to Indianapolis hours before her death and drove the defendant back to her home.
Public defender Greg Long was scheduled to being presenting his defense this morning. But Long called no witnesses, including the defendant, and rested his case, which allowed both the prosecution and defense to deliver their final arguments.
Both sides agree Carter was responsible for the victim’s death. A coroner determined that Neville died of both a gunshot wound above one of her temples, as well as asphyxiation caused by covering the victim’s head with a bag and using duct tape to secure it.
The only question left to the jurors is whether Carter knowingly or intentionally set out to kill the victim.
According to Long, the gun went off accidentally, and Carter – who knew she was dying – asphyxiated Neville to “put her out of her misery”. The defendant had brought the gun into the bedroom where the victim was lying down in an effort to intimidate her, Long said.
The state argues Carter was in a jealous rage because he thought Neville had been having intimate relations with another man. Text messages and voice mail recorded just hours before the killing supported the prosecution’s argument.
While Carter told authorities the handgun went off during a physical struggle, prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay quoted a forensic specialist who testified the weapon was at least three feet away from the victim when it went off. Holden-Kay also said evidence indicates Neville was asleep when she was killed.
After closing arguments, the jury began its deliberations at exactly 11 a.m.
