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Robbins admits to voluntary manslaughter
A 24-year-old Clo-verdale man admitted Thursday afternoon to killing a Morgan County man following an August 2010 altercation outside a Burma Road residence.
Jared T. Robbins -- who has been lodged in the Putnam County Jail for more than two years since the Aug. 21, 2010 shooting death of Donald E. Lowe III, 28, Martinsville -- has agreed to a plea agreement that is expected to result in his incarceration for the next 25 years.
The plea agreement filed Thursday in Putnam Superior Court states that in return for Robbins' pleading guilty to voluntary man-slaughter (a Class A felony), the state agrees to dismiss a petition to revoke probation and a habitual offender enhancement it had filed against the defendant.
In court Thursday, Putnam County Prosecutor Timothy Bookwalter read from the agreement, asking Robbins if on Aug. 21, 2010 he "did knowingly kill another human being."
"Is that correct?" Bookwalter asked the defendant.
And with a simple "yes" answer, Robbins negated a scheduled Oct. 2 jury trial and set in motion legal proceedings that will result in his continued incarceration.
As a result of the plea agreement with the Putnam Prosecutor's Office, Robbins will be sentenced to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction with 25 years to actually be served.
The agreement also states that Robbins cannot petition the court for any modification or reduction of his sentence once it is imposed.
Superior Court Judge Charles "Denny" Bridges took Robbins' guilty plea under advisement Thursday, pending completion of a presentence investigation.
The judge set sentencing for 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26.
Robbins was represented in court by Indianapolis attorney Hilary Bowe Ricks, who agreed to the sentencing date.
On Aug. 21, 2010, when Robbins and a relative allegedly tangled with the victim Lowe in a physical confrontation, the defendant had only been out of jail in a felony burglary case since July.
The fatal shooting occurred, witnesses said, after Lowe released Robbins from a headlock, apparently ending the fight. Robbins then reportedly went to his vehicle and retrieved a handgun. He returned to fire five to seven rounds at Lowe with at least two bullets striking the victim in the chest and one in the leg.
Robbins then reportedly fled the scene in a car. Within an hour of the shooting he was apprehended near the Putnam-Hendricks county line on Interstate 70.
Voluntary man-slaughter is considered an intentional killing in which the offender had no prior intent to kill, such as a killing that occurs in the heat of passion. Circumstances leading to such a killing are those that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed, otherwise the killing may be charged as first-degree or second-degree murder.