BROWNSBURG, Ind. – The two people accused of killing brutally murdering a 74-year-old Brownsburg woman and assaulting her wheelchair-bound husband during a robbery earlier this month will face more charges in connection with the attack.
A former home health nurse's aide, Kiesha Summerhill, 18, and her boyfriend, Arion Cruthird, 19, are both charged with murder. On Friday, prosecutors filed the following additional charges:
- Robbery with serious bodily injury
- Battery with serious bodily injury on an endangered adult
Brownsburg police were dispatched to a home in the 800 block of Stonehenge Way just before 8:30 a.m. on January 7. A woman had called 911 and said she found her mother, Alice Wright, dead in the bedroom of her home and her father, Kerney, lying on the floor next to his wheelchair in another room. Officers arrived to find Kerney had bruises on his face but he was otherwise unharmed.
Court documents filed in the case reveal the gruesome details.
The Wrights' daughter told detectives the door was ajar when she arrived and she found the home in disarray with drawers pulled out and blood splattered on the walls and floors.
READ | Former nurses aide, boyfriend arrested for murder of Brownsburg woman
An autopsy showed that Alice Wright had been stabbed 13 times in the head, neck and back as well as having 16 cutting wounds and multiple blunt force injuries across her body. The coroner said she was likely dead for at least 24 hours.
Police spent days processing the scene and it wasn’t until several days later – when an unidentified witness came forward – that they were able to crack the case.
The witness said that Cruthird and Summerhill had confided in her about what they had done after they saw a news article about the crime.
She told police that Cruthird belongs to the Gangster Disciples gang and that he had been living with Summerhill for the past few weeks.
READ | 74-year-old woman found dead inside Brownsburg home
According to the witness, Summerhill and Cruthird were able to walk into the home because Summerhill had known that the couple left their door unlocked during the day.
She told police the duo used a BB gun to threaten Alice Wright and force her into the kitchen where they knew she kept cash. Alice had tried to use a life alert system to call for help but was caught by Cruthird. The witness said Cruthird then began beating Alice before grabbing a knife and attacking her with it.
The couple told the witness they decided to kill Alice because they believed she had recognized Summerhill, according to the court documents.
Cruthird continued beating Alice while she “begged for her life.” The witness recalled Cruthird telling her he “felt sorry” for Alice because he could feel the “crushing” of her neck and jugular as he attacked her.
According to the witness, the couple decided to leave the husband alive because they knew he couldn’t communicate to identify them, but she told investigators that Cruthird admitted to smacking him around until he fell out of his wheelchair and onto the floor.
She said the couple told her they had gotten roughly $1,500 and two guns from the home.
Cruthird and Summerhill were both arrested Jan. 12 in the 2300 block of LaSalle Street in Indianapolis.
Their next court date has not been set.
Police say Summerhill had been contracted by the Wrights as a home health aide through Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Hospital to care for Kerney, but she hadn’t worked for the family since before Thanksgiving 2017.
The family of Alice and Kerney Wright issued a statement last week asking for privacy and prayers, noting that Kerney’s medical condition will require him to be moved to a nursing facility because Alice was his full-time caretaker.
“The love of Kerney's life, his wife of 39 years, and his full-time caregiver, Alice, was tragically taken from him January 6th. Kerney has dibilitating medical conditions that will require entry into a skilled nursing facility."
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