INDIANAPOLIS — The man accused of shooting Southport police Lt. Aaron Allan to death four-and-a-half years ago has been found guilty of murder.
On Tuesday, the man, Jason Dane Brown, accused of shooting Allan to death while he was trying to help him after he crashed a car on Madison Avenue, was found guilty of the officer's murder and possession of marijuana.
Marion Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner said the case comes down to "Did the defendant knowingly kill Lt. Allan? Normally shooting someone 18 times, hitting them 11 times would satisfy that element."
Stoner in his ruling soundly rejected the defense argument that Brown suffered a seizure and did not know what he was doing when he shot the officer.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 8. Brown faces a sentence of 45 to 65 years in prison.
Stoner heard the case because prosecutors in December dismissed a death penalty charged in exchange for Brown waiving his right to a jury trial.
More than a dozen officers, including Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randal Taylor, were there to show support for Allan and his family.
Yes, that is @IMPD_Chief in the photo. He's among a host of officers here to show support for Allan and his family.
— Vic Ryckaert (@VicRyc) February 22, 2022
Allan was one of the first officers on the scene after Brown crashed and flipped a BMW in the 6600 block of South Madison Avenue on July 27, 2017.
Brown was seat-belted and suspended in the upside-down car when he fired 18 shots, 11 of which hit Allan.
Prosecutors say Brown was high and hallucinating when he fired those deadly shots. Defense attorneys say Brown suffered a seizure that caused him to crash and shoot the officer.
More than two dozen witnesses testified and more than 200 exhibits were entered into evidence during Brown's six-day trial. The case took much less time than expected after Stoner dismissed the possibility of life without parole on Feb. 11, ruling that prosecutors had failed to prove that Brown knew Allan was a police officer when he fired the shots.
Prosecutor Ryan Mears and his deputies did not comment on the case despite sharp criticism from members of Allan's family. They broke their silence after Tuesday's verdict.
"It's been a long and difficult road for the family of Lt. Aaron Allan and the entire Southport law enforcement family," said Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Ross Anderson, the lead prosecutor on the case.
"We are pleased with the verdict today. We are happy that justice has finally come for Jason Brown."
Allan's father James Allan told WRTV his family felt betrayed by Mears' decisionto dismiss the death penalty and angry at the turnover in the office that led to multiple deputy prosecutors moving in and out of the case.
"I'd like to say I feel that there was one person listening in the courtroom, that was the judge," James Allan said, addressing media after the guilty verdict.
James Allan said he appreciated that the prosecutor's office "humbled themselves" to his family in the wake of his criticism.
Lt. Allan's mother, Laurie Lowry, expressed relief at the verdict.
"I have waited so long. Four-and-a-half years. Finally, finally something happens," Lowry said, weeping.
"It felt like a ton of weight lifted off my heart."
Aaron Allan, 38, joined the Southport Police Department in 2011 and is the first Southport officer to be killed in the line of duty. Before his final shift began, Allan walked his then-6-year-old son to schoolfor his first day of kindergarten, his widow Stacy Allan testified.
During closing arguments, Anderson said Brown was a cocaine addict who used 9 to 10 times a day. Anderson said Brown stopped using drugs on the night before the shooting because he was hiding his addiction from a new girlfriend who was visiting from Ohio.
Brown left the apartment to meet a friend and get high, Anderson said.
Defense attorneys noted that investigators failed to get a blood test that would have proven whether or not Brown was high. Instead, Brown took a urine test that showed he had used cocaine, marijuana and synthetic marijuana. The urine test does not prove that Brown was high at the time of the crash and shooting.
Judge Stoner said prosecutors didn't need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown was high in order to prove he committed murder. Circumstantial evidence and the judge's doubts as to the credibility of some key defense witnesses was enough.
Tuesday, in addition to being the day of the verdict, was Brown's 33rd birthday. Brown's lawyers did not speak to media Tuesday. During the trial they worked hard to persuade the judge that years of repeated head trauma and a family history of seizures were behind untreated neurological problems in Brown's brain. Brown suffered a seizure and was incapable of forming the intent needed to prove murder, they argued.
"Not every story has a villain," Defense Attorney Denise Turner said in closing arguments. "Lt. Allan is still a hero and Jason Brown is innocent of murder."
Allan's mother said the family now awaits the sentencing hearing. She said she hopes Brown uses his time in prison to reflect on the pain he's caused so many.
"Whatever time the judge gives him, I hope he thinks about what he's done," Lowry said. "He took something so precious that definitely is never going to bring (Aaron) back. All the memories that we could have shared together.
"I miss him as much today as much I did the day he died, but hopefully now Aaron can rest."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
WRTV Senior Digital Content Producer Andrew Smith assisted with this report.
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