Muncie man gets 45 years for slaying

• A Muncie man on Thursday was sentenced to 45 years in prison for a murder conviction.
• Joshua Haskins, 26, fatally shot Gary Barbour Jr., 29, outside a southside apartment last May.
• Haskins said Thursday he "lost control" after finding the victim having sex with his girlfriend.

MUNCIE – Joshua Michael Haskins was frank on Thursday when he described why he had fatally shot another Muncie man.

The 26-year-old Haskins received a 45-year prison term — the penalty specified under the terms of a deal with prosecutors — after pleading guilty to murder in last May's slaying of 29-year-old Gary Barbour Jr.

The slaying occurred outside the South Juniper Lane apartment of a woman Haskins said was his longtime girlfriend and the mother of his two children.

Haskins said that night, he had been on the apartment's second floor, putting his children to bed, when he heard noises downstairs.

"I saw my fiancee having sex with another man," he said. "I lost control. I take full responsibility for my actions."

Haskins said he and Barbour fought for about a minute, then each left the apartment — Haskins through the front door, Barbour through the back.

Deputy Prosecutor Zachary Craig said Haskins retrieved a handgun he apparently had hidden in the apartment, went to the back of the building, and shot Barbour repeatedly.

Haskins maintained he was "not a violent person."

"You are a violent person," Craig responded, noting he had killed a man.

"You've got to push me to that point," the defendant responded.

Barbour's survivors told Delaware Circuit Court 2 Judge Kimberly Dowling — who accepted the terms of the plea agreement — that the slaying had devastated their family.

Nicole Graves recalled her cousin as "caring, fun (and) lovable."

She noted Haskins had "shot an unarmed man from behind not once, not twice, but six times."

Another cousin of the victim, Brittany Kirkland, said the victim — the father of two children — "was determined to be somebody."

Barbour's relatives wore T-shirts that displayed photographs of the victim, and the message "Justice for Gary."

Public defender John Quirk said his client had "blacked out," and didn't recall many details about the events leading to the slaying.

Craig said Haskins' crime was "right on the line between murder and voluntary manslaughter," but noted the defendant "chose to ambush a man who was not even facing him."

In imposing the 45-year sentence, Judge Dowling referred to the number of times the victim was shot, with "several (of the wounds) about his face or head."

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.