LEBANON — An Indianapolis man convicted by a judge last month in the murder of an 82-year-old Zionsville man was supposed to learn his fate on Friday. The sentencing hearing never took place, however, because Damoine Wilcoxson's attorney never showed up to court.
Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood confirmed that the hearing never took place. Boone Superior Court Judge Matthew Kincaid has issued a show cause order against Indianapolis attorney William Hawkins, who did not show up to court.
Last month, Kincaid found Wilcoxson, 23, guilty of murder in the 2016 shooting death of John Clements, 82, of Zionsville.
The sentencing was scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. Friday. According to court records, court staff twice received phone calls from a woman who identified herself as Hawkins' power of attorney.
During the first call on Wednesday, the woman reportedly told court staff Hawkins was ill and would not be able to attend the hearing on that day. Court staff told the caller the hearing was on Friday, according to court records.
On Thursday, a second call was made stating that a motion would be filed that "if granted might affect the case proceeding to a sentencing hearing." No such motion was filed, according to court records.
In an order read in open court on Friday, Kincaid laid out steps taken to locate Hawkins and conduct the sentencing hearing.
Kincaid said the court staff called the telephone number for Hawkins on file, however, the outgoing message indicated the number had been changed to an unknown number. An email was sent by court staff to Hawkins instructing him to come to court, however, no reply was received. Court staff also called the woman who represented herself as Hawkins' power of attorney and told her he was required to appear in court as soon as possible.
According to court records, Kincaid has ordered Hawkins to appear in court at noon on Wednesday to determine if Hawkins should be held in contempt of court.
Wilcoxson is already serving a 37-year prison sentence for three incidents in Indianapolis the month after Clements was killed. Wilcoxson fired shots at two different Indianapolis police stations. He was later arrested after a three-hour standoff during which he shot at police officers.
RTV6 attempted to reach out to Hawkins' office for comment, however, a message stated the number has been changed.
