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Harvey sentenced to 16 years in Whitis shooting
A Greencastle man was given a 16-year sentence in the June 2020 shooting death of his girlfriend.
In Putnam Superior Court Monday, Russell Harvey II, 24, Greencastle, entered a guilty plea to Level 3 aggravated battery posing a substantial risk of death in the shooting of 18-year-old Hailey Whitis of Greencastle.
After arguments were made on both sides, Judge Denny Bridges sentenced Harvey to 16 years with the Indiana Department of Correction, the maximum sentence allowed for a Level 3 felony.
Of that, 14 years are to be executed, with the remaining two on probation. Further, Bridges said he was ordering purposeful incarceration when Harvey is in DOC facilities.
Harvey, who was arrested in March, will get credit for the 248 days he’s already spent in jail.
As part of a plea agreement submitted to the court in August, the remaining two charges against Harvey — Level 5 felony involuntary manslaughter and Class A misdemeanor false informing — were dropped.
With testimony from family members of both Whitis and Harvey, Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter and defense attorney Carman Malone painted very different pictures of Harvey.
Called by Bookwalter, Whitis’ mother Heather Morris, told of her daughter who was less than two days past her 18th birthday, preparing to graduate and looking at a career in nursing.
She went on to say how different life has been for the family in the time since — father Kevin Whitis now has frequent nightmares, while sister Harley has been diagnosed with PTSD.
“I pray that no mother ever has to feel the pain that I had to feel the day I buried my daughter,” Morris said. “Kevin and I now have to visit a cemetery to talk to our beautiful daughter, and I often spend my lunches out there.”
Malone also spoke of the stories that she and others said Harvey was telling in the days and weeks after the shooting, that Hailey had shot herself, either accidentally or on purpose.
“Our family was tortured by the lies Russell was telling,” Morris said.
She even noted that at the graduation ceremony for Hailey’s class, which was delayed until July 2020 due to COVID-19, someone came up to her to apologize after hearing her daughter had committed suicide.
“Hailey doesn’t get a second chance,” Morris said to Judge Bridges. “We beg of you to please sentence Russell Harvey to the Department of Correction to serve the maximum sentence allowed by law.”
Det. Capt. Michael Collins of the Greencastle Police Department also testified for the prosecution, noting that Harvey told him that night that Whitis had been playing with the gun and that he was walking away as she shot herself.
Results in the investigation were delayed by COVID-19, Collins noted, thus the delay in Harvey’s arrest from June 2020 to March 2021.
However, he noted that results from the Indiana State Police Crime Lab showed that the gun, an AR-15 rifle, could not have been fired from the close range required for Whitis to have pulled the trigger.
Collins said Harvey told a number of different stories to people that night about how the shooting had occurred, in none of them did he pull the trigger.
Several witnesses for Harvey, including father Russell Harvey Sr., mother Christina Davis, stepmother Charity Harvey and girlfriend Brittney Gordon, spoke of how shocked they were about this behavior from someone who had no prior issues of this nature.
“I do know that Russell’s never been in trouble,” the elder Harvey noted. “He’s always been such a joy, really, such a happy person. People love to be around him. He’s not perfect, but nothing ever like this. Not even fighting with brothers and sisters.
“I know it’s about consequences but Russell’s not a bad guy. He’s not a monster. I just hope that can be considered.”
All four witnesses said they would welcome the younger Harvey back into their lives and homes whenever he is released.
Furthermore, all four said they knew he was a gun owner, but never believed he would become violent.
All four said they had seen Harvey show some form of remorse.
“He would look up at the sky when he was on the phone with me,” Davis recalled, “and I remember him saying, ‘I see a cloud but the sun is beaming through it.’ And he would say, ‘Mom, that’s Hailey.’”
Harvey also briefly spoke on his own behalf, mainly to apologize to the Whitis family.
“I’d like to apologize to the family,” he said. “I know nothing I do or say can change what happened and I do take full responsibility for my actions. I am truly sorry.”
In arguing aggravating circumstances, though, Bookwalter said showing remorse at this juncture is too little, too late.
“I don’t think remorse is something you show in November 2021,” Bookwalter said. “What I find most damaging is the story that she shot herself. The family had to live with this for 8-1/2 months. That was absolutely not true.”
The veteran prosecutor also noted that the harm suffered, death, was greater than that required to prove the offense of aggravated battery.
Like the witnesses she called, though, Malone said she believed Harvey was remorseful for his actions.
“From the day that I met him he has shown remorse,” Malone said.
She also noted that in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, her client was confused and frightened, leading him to not tell the truth.
“I would imagine he would not be as honest as he should have been,” Malone said. “He has pled guilty, so he has accepted responsibility.”
She added that Harvey has no criminal history, has accepted responsibity and is a low risk to re-offend.
Malone asked for the 16-year sentence, with 11 to be executed.
When it came time for his decision, Bridges noted that he had received more letters regarding this case than any he could recall, many of them asking for more than the 16 years he could hand down.
Noting that Harvey was remorseful in court on Monday, this was different than previous appearances in Superior Court, a fact that had surprised Bridges at the time.
“I know your father. He’s a wonderful man,” Bridges said. “And I was shocked at your behavior. It was practically indignant.”
In the end, the aggravators, particularly the perceived lack of remorse and the inconsistencies of the story, outweighed anything else for the judge.
“What that did to Hailey’s family for all that time is unconscionable,” Bridges said.
The sentenced handed down was ultimately that recommended by Probation Officer Garrett Nichols in his pre-sentence investigation.
Before adjourning court, Bridges noted that Harvey has 30 days to appeal the sentence.
Under Indiana law, Harvey will have to serve at least 75 percent of his sentence.