NEWS

January trial set in murder case

Douglas Walker
The Star Press

INDIANAPOLIS – One Muncie man accused of killing another has received a Jan. 25 trial date in a Marion County court.

Martize D. Kirkland, 27, is charged with murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, auto theft and being a felon in possession of a handgun.

Authorities allege he fatally shot Jeremy Johnson – 23 when family members reported him missing in October 2014 – after luring him from Muncie to Indianapolis.

A decomposed body, later identified as that of Johnson, was found in a wooded area near the 4600 block of North Dearborn Street in Indianapolis last June 16.

Kirkland was arrested on June 26, and formally charged in Johnson’s slaying on July 1. His trial, in Marion Superior Court 6, was at first set for Sept. 14, but was later rescheduled.

According to court documents, Kirkland told a friend he had lured Johnson to an abandoned house in Indianapolis – likely on Oct. 16, 2014 – and killed him. Investigators said Kirkland apparently believed Johnson had stolen narcotics from him.

Kirkland is also set to stand trial in Delaware Circuit Court 2 on May 2. In that case, filed last March, he is charged with armed robbery, intimidation, possession of cocaine, possession of a narcotic drug and possession of marijuana.

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