Death penalty sought in Indiana officer's shooting death

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry filed paperwork to seek the death penalty against Jason Brown, the man accused of killing Southport officer Lt. Aaron Allan.

Jason Brown



Brown, 28, is charged with the murder in the case. Curry said in August he was discussing with Lt. Allan's family the possibility of seeking the death penalty.

Last month, Brown requested a change of venue in the trial due to the fact that the case received so much publicity in central Indiana. His trial is scheduled for February. A death penalty hearing for Brown is scheduled for Oct. 2.

The fatal shooting occurred on Thursday, July 27 when Allan responded to a crash at South Madison Avenue and Maynard Drive where a BMW had flipped. Brown was the driver of the car, and he was wedged inside and “hysterical,” according to court documents. Allan tried to calm him down and assured him help was on the way.



According to court documents, Brown shot Allan 11 times; the officer later died from his wounds at Eskenazi Hospital.

Curry said he didn't make the decision lightly and consulted with Allan's family as well as the Southport Police Department before moving forward with the death penalty case.

While making the announcement Thursday, Curry noted that Allan is the fourth police officer killed during his seven years in the prosecutor's office. He mentioned David Moore, Rod Bradway and Perry Renn along with Allan and also referenced violence against officers in Marion County.

"We will not tolerate attacks upon our public safety officers," Curry said.

"The inevitable question here is, 'Why did this happen?' And we simply do not know. We might never know," Curry said. "The choices were made by this defendant that resulted in the death of Lt. Allan, and he must thus be held accountable for those choices."

When asked if the prosecutor's office was seeking the death penalty in order to position itself for a plea agreement, Curry said he "absolutely would not seek the death penalty in any given case simply to leverage a plea agreement."

Two prior cases, the deaths of David Moore and Perry Renn, were resolved via plea agreements that spared the defendants from the death penalty. Both cases were settled for different reasons; David Moore's family asked for that resolution and the man convicted of killing Renn had "significant mental health issues" that would've made it difficult to obtain the death penalty.

Brown faces an initial hearing on the death penalty filing on Monday, October 2.