A man could face up to 10 1/2 years for burning an overdosed Griffith woman’s body in an abandoned Gary building in September 2022.
Emmit Yarbourgh, 56, of Gary, pleaded guilty Thursday in court to arson, a Level 4 felony, and abuse of a corpse, a Level 6 felony.
His sentencing is May 15.
Deborah Leslie was found Sept. 23, 2022, in a torched-out house on the 5300 block of W. 8th Avenue in Gary. She was last seen alive on camera at a Hammond Motel 6. Yarbrough and his late co-defendant Heather Richardson were the last people seen with her.
Judge Natalie Bokota would have to accept the plea deal. The prison term largely rests on what she decides. In total, he faces 4 1/2-10 1/2 years.
The plea deal calls for 2-8 years for the arson charge. Yarbrough agreed to a 2 1/2-year prison term for the abuse of corpse charge. After lawyers make their case, Bokota will decide whether the terms are consecutive or concurrent.
In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to file a habitual offender enhancement, which would have added 5-20 years. They will also drop all other lower level charges.
Bokota ordered Yarbrough to have an evaluation to see if he would qualify for the Lake County Community Corrections program.
After the hearing, the victim’s father, David Leslie, said he had “mixed feelings” about the plea, but wanted at least a consecutive higher-end sentence.
“I would be OK with that,” he said.
Last August, the trial was rescheduled to give Lake County Coroner’s Office forensic pathologist Dr. Zhou Wang time to reexamine his findings.
Leslie said they were looking at his daughter’s CO2 levels to see if she could have been still alive. She was a smoker, which may have explained those readings. No ash was in her system, which would have been a sign she was still breathing, he said.
Richardson died Jan. 26, 2024, of a fentanyl and cocaine overdose, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
mcolias@post-trib.com