LEBANON—A suspect in the 2018 murder of Boone County Deputy Jacob Pickett is pleading guilty to all but one of the charges he faced.
23-year-old John Ball, who investigators say provided the gun used by Anthony Baumgardt to kill Deputy Pickett, accepted a plea deal at a hearing Friday in Boone County Superior Court, according to Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood.
As part of the deal, the murder charge was dropped and Ball pleaded guilty to five drug-related charges and a charge of Providing a Firearm to an Ineligible Person. He'll be sentenced December 11.
Pickett, who was 34, was shot in the head in March of 2018 while chasing Baumgardt through the streets of Lebanon. Officers had been trying to serve a warrant. Pickett is survived by wife Jen and two children.
Earlier this year, Anthony Baumgardt pleaded guilty to Pickett's murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He originally faced the death penalty.
A third suspect is scheduled for trial next year. 30-year-old John Baldwin, who was with Baumgardt when Pickett was shot, is charged with Murder, five drug-related charges, along with Resisting Law Enforcement and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.
This past July, Dawn Love Rochon, an Indianapolis woman, received a 13-month sentence on federal gun charges. Rochon purchased the gun used in Pickett's murder, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Josh Minkler.
