Former PCF offender gets 50 years for murder

Monday, November 9, 2015
Anthony Reid

A former Putnamville Correctional Facility inmate was sentenced on Monday to 50 more years in prison for the June 2014 killing of another inmate.

Anthony Reid, 39, had already entered a guilty plea to the June 12, 2014 stabbing death of fellow PCF inmate Darwin L. Elmore, 34, Indianapolis.

Putnam Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges gave Reid the maximum sentence allowed by the plea agreement between Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter and defense attorney Scott Adams.

The two sides struck an agreement last month during a pretrial conference. With the agreement, the county avoided a costly jury trial that would have featured the act caught on video, which Bookwalter compared to "a glorified guilty plea."

Surveillance video of the PCF dormitory day room shows inmates sitting watching television when Reid jumps to his feet and stabs Elmore -- seated on the end of the front row -- once in the neck and shoulder. Reid then appears to stab the victim once more in the back with what was described as a four-inch shank, or makeshift knife, wrapped in white shoelaces.

He created the knife from a piece of metal he had found on the ballfield an hour earlier, Reid told investigators right after the incident.

With the facts of the case not in question, Monday's hearing instead centered on testimony from Elmore's family and a rather intense response from Reid in which he expressed regret for the loss, but did not back down from the act he committed.

Testifying on behalf of the state were Elmore's grandmother, half brother and aunt.

Paternal grandmother Lizzie Turner shared her memories of her grandson and asked Bridges for justice.

"There's not a day goes by that I don't think about him," Turner said. "I just want to see justice done here.

"He always wanted to come out to holiday meals with me."

Serving a Marion County sentence for dealing in cocaine, Elmore would have been eligible for parole in June 2016.

Half brother Tyrise Brown reflected on that potential release date.

"My brother was a good man," Brown said. "All he wanted to do was do his time and go home."

Besides a number of family members in court Monday, Brown said his brother left behind five children age 13 and younger.

"Realize that my brother got killed in the penitentiary for no reason at all," Brown begged of the judge.

Rather than addressing the judge, Elmore's aunt Telisha Viniou directed her comments, spoken through tears, at Reid.

"My life has not been the same since he's been gone," Viniou said. "I can't for the life of me understand what would make you stab someone. Fifty years is not enough, 50 years cannot bring back a life.

"You took a life. I think yours should be taken too. I'm sorry."

Perhaps most pointedly, she added, "You ruined our family."

In his impassioned response, Reid did not attempt to rebut anything Elmore's family said, instead doing what he could to explain himself, his violent past and how he felt the Department of Correction had failed him and Elmore in this incident.

Having been imprisoned for more than 10 years for aggravated battery and robbery, Reid said he had largely kept his nose clean in prison, saying he had tried to "put violence behind me."

His move to the 150-man dorm at Putnamville, however, had brought about a change, Reid explained. Aware of the tension in the dorm, Reid said he had requested a transfer more than once, including the morning of the attack.

"I told the counselor that morning, 'Move me out of this dorm or I'm gonna snap,'" Reid said. "I begged them people at the prison to get me out of there."

What prompted the last request, Reid said, was some "reliable information" that Elmore was hiring someone to do harm to him.

"Ain't no man gonna put a hit out on me and think I'm not coming," Reid said. "I'm coming and I'm playing for keeps."

Reid's brutal honesty provoked the ire of Elmore's family members. The added security in the courtroom, including three sheriff's deputies and a six-member emergency response team from the DOC, had to step in more than once, escorting one family member from the courtroom.

Others were warned by Judge Bridges to hold their tongues.

"This is a court of law and it's his (Reid's) turn to speak, whether you like him or not," Bridges said.

The convicted man said it was not about a personal problem he had with Elmore, nor was it related to white supremacy or gang activity.

"This ain't got nothing to do with black or white," Reid said. "This is about respect."

In the end, the decision cost Reid greatly. With less than 10 months to his release date, he committed an act that will now keep him incarcerated until his old age.

"I think about that guy, I could've done that differently," Reid said. "I could've went at him with my hands."

What actually happened was a loss for everyone -- Elmore, Reid, both their families -- a point emphasized by both Adams and his client.

"This situation is unfortunate," the attorney said. "Everybody loses."

For Reid's part, he made it clear that he and his family are also suffering from his choice.

"I'm sorry that ya'll took that loss. I'm deeply sorry for that," Reid said to Elmore's family. "It's sad that even my family has to take a loss. I'm never gonna come out of prison alive. If that makes you feel better, I'm not."

Reid receives credit for 515 days served, the number of days to have passed since the incident. He was transferred away from Putnamville following the incident, serving most recently at the DOC Reception Diagnostic Center in Plainfield.

Following the hearing, he was transported back to Plainfield, where he awaits relocation by the DOC.

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  • I HOPE THEY KEEP THIS ANIMAL BEHIND BARS. SOMEHOW THESE IDIOTS GET OUT EARLY BECAUSE OF PRISON CROWDING.....LET'S HOPE HE IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Tue, Nov 10, 2015, at 6:22 AM
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