A local teenager accused of killing his great aunt at her home will have his first court date late this week.
An initial hearing for Bobby Neil Truitt II, 19, is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Friday before Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton. He’s charged with the Sept. 27 death of Sharon Lovins, 64, who was killed by blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxia due to manual strangulation, according to a coroner’s report.
Instead of appearing live in the courtroom, Truitt is expected to participate in the hearing from the county jail through video conferencing, a court official said.
On Monday, Truitt was formally charged with murder, a Level 1 felony, rape as a Level 1 felony and auto theft as a Level 6 felony. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to more than 107 years in prison.
Hours after Lovins’ body was discovered, the victim’s stolen SUV was located in Indianapolis, according to a probable cause affidavit. The next day, an employee of a nearby Greyhound bus station told police she saw Truitt inquiring about the price of a ticket to New York City, the document stated.
During a multi-agency search, Truitt was found Tuesday four blocks from the bus station panhandling with a group of homeless individuals, Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said.
Myers’ department is requesting that Truitt await his court hearings in the custody of the Indiana Department of Correction, rather than the Bartholomew County Jail.
“The victim of this crime has family members currently incarcerated here in the jail,” said Chief Deputy Sheriff Maj. Chris Lane, who cites safety and security concerns as reasons for the transfer request.
Although Worton has consented to the sheriff’s request, officials with the DOC might wait as long as a week-and-a-half before they decide whether they’ll house Truitt, Lane said.
A check of criminal records shows Truitt is currently facing a charge of Level 6 felony sexual battery in a case filed in Johnson (County) Superior Court 3.
Case records indicate he appeared at an initial hearing in the case just three days before his great-aunt’s death, and had been staying with her since she bonded him out of the jail in Franklin.
