INDIANAPOLIS — A Marion County jury is hearing evidence this week in the trial of two men and a woman accused in the shooting death of former Indiana University football player Chris Beaty in 2020.
Marion County prosecutors say Marcus Jayon Anderson, Alijah Jones and Nakeyah Shields were on a robbery spree when they fatally shot Beaty during riots that consumed Downtown Indianapolis in May 2020.
The suspects are accused of committing a string of armed robberies in Downtown Indianapolis amid the chaos, unrest and looting that followed demonstrations protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Beaty, 38, was outside his apartment building near Talbot and Vermont streets when prosecutors say he interrupted the robbers and one of them shot him on May 30, 2020.
Beaty was a business owner, former IU football player and Cathedral High School graduate. The two schools have since created scholarships in his name.
Anderson, Jones and Shields have been charged with murder and multiple counts of armed robbery. Their trial began Monday and is expected to conclude later this week.
In testimony Tuesday, a woman told jurors she was broadcasting live on Instagram that night when she and a friend were robbed by three or four suspects in a parking lot near Talbot and Vermont.
The robbers forced the woman and her friend to the ground, she told the jury. She said she used her body to hide her phone from the robbers.
One man fired a shot from a handgun near her friend's head, she testified.
The woman's Instagram video was played in court. The camera was pointed to her face when a man's voice ordered her to get on the ground and the video abruptly stopped.
Prosecutors say a fourth suspect, Dorian Murrell, was shot to death near Market and Pennsylvania streets about 2:30 a.m. May 31, 2020, just hours after Beaty's killing.
Tyler Newby was convicted of criminal recklessness and in November was sentenced to a year of home detention in Murrell's death.
More: Tyler Newby sentenced to home detention for killing man during the 2020 Downtown riots | Tyler Newby convicted of reckless homicide for killing man during the 2020 Downtown riots| IMPD: Arrest made in downtown weekend murder| Man charged with Chris Beaty killing in downtown Indianapolis | Two more people charged in connection with 2020 murder of Chris Beaty | Mother of Chris Beaty files wrongful death lawsuit against City of Indianapolis, IMPD
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
