A Gary man scheduled to get a new trial Monday for a 2022 Gary murder signed a last minute plea deal.
Kenneth Burns, 52, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony. He faces 1-6 years.
His sentencing date is scheduled for July 17.
Burns said in court he had been drinking on the night of the murder and didn’t remember what happened.
You don’t dispute you shot Andre White, Judge Salvador Vasquez asked him.
“No, I do not,” Burns said.
Vasquez would have to review and accept the plea.
Burns was charged with murder in the June 8, 2022, shooting death of White, 39. His first trial ended in a hung jury in March. He faced 45-65 years.
At the first trial, Deputy Prosecutor Milana Petersen argued police found White’s blood and DNA in the back of Burns’ vehicle. She noted Burns’ family called the police for a welfare check on June 19. He was found hiding in an abandoned house when he was arrested on June 29, 2022. She tried the case with Deputy Prosecutor Jacquelyn Altpeter.
In his first jail call, he said, “Well, they got me,” she said.
Defense lawyer Scott King said the case hinged on witness Vernon Reeves’ testimony, who was renting a room from Burns at the time. He later questioned his credibility on the stand. Police didn’t go to the crime scene for “eight days,” King said. They figured things could have been moved around.
Every homicide case he defended usually had things like diagrams, photos and sometimes video from the crime scene.
“In this case, nothing,” King said then.
Burns was released on his own recognizance in January after prosecutors took too long to bring him to trial under Indiana Criminal Rule 4, which allows for six months’ worth of delays by either side. Burns will remain released until the sentencing.
Police were called in the morning of June 8, 2022, to the 4800 block off W. 21st Avenue in Gary. White was found lying face down with gunshot wounds in the face and neck “in a grassy area,” according to an affidavit and a police release.
The cause of death was multiple gunshots, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
A witness told police he heard “several gunshots” inside White’s home, then saw him leaning forward against a black chair with Burns holding a gun, the affidavit alleges.
White was “talking (expletive),” when the witness asked why he was shot, Burns said, according to criminal charges.
Police later found latent blood stains in Burns’ Dodge Durango, which had the back seats folded down, documents allege. A security video appeared to show an “older” Durango, the only vehicle driving south on Clark Road in the area where White’s body was later found about a half mile southeast from where he was shot, police said.
mcolias@post-trib.com