INDIANAPOLIS — 2024 was a big year in Central Indiana, including a much anticipated trial, the emergence of a new sports star and even record-breaking concerts by Taylor Swift.
Here are some of 2024’s top stories from FOX59/CBS4
Delphi murders trial
Two years after the arrest of Richard Allen in connection with the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge, he finally faced his trial.
The proceedings followed 24 months of legal wrangling involving Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland and Allen’s attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi. The defense repeatedly tried to enter its alternative murder theory—that Odinists, members of a Norse pagan group, killed the girls in a ritual sacrifice—into evidence.
Those efforts proved unsuccessful, and the defense suffered additional setbacks when Special Judge Fran Gull ruled ballistics evidence and Allen’s prison confessions were admissible.
It set the stage for a dramatic month-long trial spanning Allen and Carroll counties, with jury selection in Fort Wayne on Oct. 14 and the trial itself starting on Oct. 18 in Delphi.
Jurors, brought in from Allen County and sequestered for the duration, heard 17 days of testimony before the defense rested its case on Nov. 6. The state then called a trio of rebuttal witnesses to the stand before both sides delivered closing arguments on Nov. 7.
Gull didn’t allow cameras in the courtroom, and information from the trial relied on notes from the media pool.
The jury heard from dozens of witnesses, including investigators who described the gruesome crime scene, digital forensic experts who examined and enhanced the infamous “Bridge Guy” video extracted from German’s phone, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies and the firearms expert who matched an unspent cartridge found at the crime scene to Allen’s Sig Sauer P226.
The jury viewed grisly photos of the crime scene and disturbing videos of Allen’s behavior during his time at Westville Correctional Facility. They listened to phone calls in which Allen confessed to his wife and mother and heard from a prison psychologist who shared another one of his confessions.
They also watched two videotaped interviews with Allen from October 2022 that led to a search of his home and his eventual arrest.
After getting the case on Nov. 8, jurors deliberated for around 18 hours before announcing their verdict on Nov. 11. They found Allen guilty of four counts of murder.
He was sentenced to 130 years on Dec. 20.
Eclipse passes over Central Indiana
In early April, a large portion of Indiana was in the totality of a solar eclipse.
Thousands of individuals descended on the state on April 8 to see the eclipse. Throughout Indiana, the eclipse spanned a little more than 2.5 hours after it started around 1:50 p.m. that afternoon.
The eclipse’s totality occurred for around 4 minutes in certain areas in the state, including in Indianapolis, Bloomington and Columbus.
Several locations hosted events for the total solar eclipse, including the White River State Park and Conner Prairie. Indiana University in Bloomington hosted a solar eclipse event featuring Janelle Monáe and Captiain Kirk himself, William Shatner.
More than 50,000 people gathered to witness the full solar eclipse at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April 8. Officials with the speedway said at the time that people from all 50 states and 33 countries, including Brazil, Germany, Mexico and South Africa, came to the event.
Individuals can watch a time lapse of April’s total solar eclipse by clicking here.
Teen’s disappearance leads to raid
The case of a missing 14-year-old boy led to a raid and the arrest of a former Indianapolis Colts player and his wife.
In late June, Indiana State Police appealed to the public for help in finding the teen, saying he may have been the victim of abuse. His father, former Colts defense lineman Daniel Muir, was named as a person of interest.
According to ISP, the 14-year-old was last seen on June 16, when he left his grandmother’s home near Cleveland, Ohio, with his mother in a Chevy Suburban. The teen had a black eye, which concerned his grandmother enough that she contacted the police. Just minutes after she called the authorities, police pulled over the Suburban but found no sign of the teen.
Pictures showed the teen had suffered a black eye and a busted lip. His grandmother said his whole face was swollen.
On June 28, a statewide Silver Alert went into effect. Police said they’d made contact with the teen’s parents and believed they were going to cooperate. However, the parents reportedly backed out of an agreement to bring their son to the ISP post in Peru.
On July 3, more than two weeks after his reported disappearance, the teen was found “safe and well.” It followed a high-stakes raid on a compound in Logansport involving multiple law enforcement agencies.
The raid focused on a property located at 1740 W. US Highway 24 owned by the Servant Leader’s Foundation, a nonprofit religious group. The teen’s grandmother believed the group, sometimes described as a cult, “brainwashed” her grandson, who couldn’t bring himself to leave his parents.
The raid ended peacefully, with the 14-year-old boy found “safe and well.” Both his parents were charged with obstruction of justice, while Daniel Muir was also charged with domestic battery. Their cases are pending.
Nashville Town Council votes to remove police chief
After two years in the role, Heather Burris was removed as the town of Nashville’s police chief during a meeting in late August.
On Aug. 26, the Nashville Town Council unanimously voted to remove Burris during a council meeting. Burris was then classified as a merit officer within the town’s police department.
At the meeting, Sergeant Daniel Scott Bowling was named as the department’s interim police chief as officials began the search for a permanent police chief. Councilmembers said during the meeting that the decision was made after a months-long investigation into Burris’ performance occurred.
“We cannot afford to do anything that is not helping the residents of this town and right now, we don’t feel the residents are getting the best protection,” officials said. “We have little precious resources to spend and we have to ensure that they are spent carefully.”
In a letter obtained by FOX59/CBS4 in late August, Burris was removed from the position because of safety concerns over inadequate staffing, as well as her living in New Palestine, which is more than 60 miles outside of Nashville.
The council argued that Burris did not consistently schedule officers in the evenings or during weekends. The letter also claimed that reserve officers for the department used the squad cars for personal use and logged large amounts of overtime. Ultimately, the letter ended by asking Burris to resign.
“I want everyone here to know that no matter the outcome of this, this will not change who I am at the core,” Burris told FOX59/CBS4 at the time. “Without the community and without the support I wouldn’t be able to be successful.”
As of Dec. 18, 2024, Burris is no longer listed on the town’s police department website.
Indiana Fever draft Caitlin Clark
The Indiana Fever made a splash by making Caitlin Clark the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Clark was a star at the University of Iowa, leading the Hawkeyes to consecutive appearances in the NCAA championship game. She finished her college career as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history.
Her arrival in Indianapolis further elevated the city’s sports profile and brought some controversy. An awkward, uncomfortable exchange with IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel overshadowed her introductory news conference in April, for instance.
The Fever got off to a rough start. While Clark scored 20 points in her pro debut, she also had 10 turnovers as the Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun, 92-71. The team sputtered to a 1-8 record.
By mid-June, things started to click. The Fever won four in a row and improved to 7-10. When the WNBA returned in August from the Olympic break, they won seven of eight to improve to 18-16. They went on to finish the season 20-20 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Their season ended at the hands of the Connecticut Sun, who swept the Fever in the first round of the playoffs in September.
Clark’s impact on the city and sports world was undeniable.
She drew record numbers of fans to WNBA games, with some road teams moving their games to larger venues to accommodate the crowd size (and sell more tickets). Merchandise sales were brisk, and the “feud” between Clark and Angel Reese, a former LSU foe drafted by the Chicago Sky, drew national attention (Clark downplayed any animosity).
On the court, Clark excelled. She scored the most points and dished out the most assists of any WNBA rookie ever. She notched the first triple-double for a WNBA rookie and a Fever player.
It wasn’t a perfect season. She set the single-season turnover record and missed out on the Olympic team, although the time off allowed her to rest after her whirlwind introduction to the league. Clark also found herself the unwilling subject of controversies over hard fouls and the fraught racial dynamics of the league and U.S. society at large.
The league chose her as the Rookie of the Year and named her to the All-Rookie and First-Team All-WNBA. Her on-court play, savvy handling of media controversies and competitive nature led TIME to name her Athlete of the Year.
Election year brings transition in power to Indiana
As a result of November’s general election, Indiana will have a new leader in the statehouse starting in January 2025.
U.S. Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind. was elected as the state’s next governor after receiving more than 54% of the vote. This comes after current Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, was unable to run again because of state term limits laws.
Other familiar names, including Todd Rokita, Indiana’s Republican attorney general, along with U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. District 5, U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind. District 7 and U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind. District 9, were also re-elected to their respective positions.
Some new faces will represent Indiana in the U.S. Congress as a result of November’s general election. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. District 3 was elected as Indiana’s newest Republican senator while Marlin Stutzman, a Republican, will replace Banks in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jefferson Shreve, a Republican who ran for Indianapolis mayor in 2023, will also be in the U.S. House of Representatives as district 6’s congressman.
As part of 2024’s election cycle, Central Indiana also saw contentious debates, tight primary election races as well as an appearance from the Democratic presidential candidate in Indianapolis.
Baby’s body found stuffed in bucket
The search for missing 3-month-old Jacob Moneus ended in tragedy when police found his body stuffed inside a bucket in August.
Police later arrested 28-year-old Eliasard Moneus, who was formally charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, criminal confinement and domestic battery.
According to court documents, the investigation into Eliasard Moneus began on Aug. 10, when police were called to a Lafayette-area hospital to investigate a domestic disturbance.
Officers talked to Eliasard Moneus’ wife, who indicated they had an argument on Aug. 5, and she hadn’t seen him until Aug. 10, when he showed up at her apartment in Lafayette and hit her in the head with a “tire iron or wrench.” At the time, she and her 3-month-old son had been watching a church service on TV.
She suffered a skull fracture and eventually drove herself to the hospital. She didn’t know what happened to the baby boy, who was soon the subject of a statewide Silver Alert. Eliasard Moneus had driven away from the area, she told investigators.
Police located Eliasard Moneus in Lawrence, although they didn’t find Jacob. The initial search of the Lafayette apartment yielded no sign of the boy. But just before 5 a.m. on Aug. 11, crime scene technicians came across an orange bucket with a snap-on lid.
Jacob’s body was inside, along with a “dark-colored liquid,” likely laundry detergent. An autopsy determined he died from asphyxia. The coroner ruled his death a homicide.
Eliasard Moneus initially told police he didn’t know what happened to the boy but later said the baby was okay. He admitted to attacking his wife with a tool from his truck and said he hoped she would die from her injuries.
A bond request indicated Moneus had “few ties, if any, to the community” and raised questions about his immigration status. He is originally from Haiti.
According to court records, the case against Eliasard Moneus is pending, with a jury trial scheduled for January. He has been held without bond since his arrest.
IMPD: Deadly road rage shooting was ultimately self defense
A fatal road rage shooting was captured on camera in mid-July, a shooting that officials with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said was self-defense.
At around 8:22 p.m. on July 16, IMPD officers were called to the area of Thompson Road and Emerson Avenue after receiving reports of a shooting. Witnesses at the scene claimed that a confrontation between two armed drivers escalated into the deadly shooting.
When officers arrived, they found 29-year-old Gavin Dasaur who was shot in the street. Dasaur was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The driver of a pickup truck who reportedly fired the fatal shot stayed on scene but was later released after detectives found that the shooter may have acted in self-defense. Cell phone video showed the confrontation between the two.
In the video, Dasaur yelled at the pickup truck driver with a handgun in his right hand. During the confrontation, Dasaur punched the truck’s door with the gun in his hand. After Dasaur switched the gun to his left hand, the driver then shot Dasaur three times.
John Tompkins, an attorney not connected to the case, told FOX59/CBS4 at the time that “the law says you can use reasonable force when you reasonably believe it’s necessary to prevent serious bodily force to yourself or another.”
Former reserve officer involved in murder-suicide
When officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department were called to a south side home on Aug. 12, they ended up investigating the death of one of their own.
Thomas Joseph Nolan, a former IMPD reserve officer who retired just two months before, killed his wife and himself in what police investigated as a murder-suicide. Making the case all the more devastating, Nolan also shot his two teenage daughters.
Dispatchers were on the phone with one of his daughters as the situation escalated. Officers found Nolan and his wife, Ashley, dead in the backyard of their home on Watersonway Circle.
Investigators believe Nolan shot his wife and daughters before turning the gun on himself. The daughters survived the encounter.
“First and foremost I want to think about these teenagers,” IMPD Public Information Officer Tommy Thompson said at the time. “This is just tragic for them. It’s horrific for the community and it’s not something anyone would expect.”
Nolan’s law enforcement career began with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, where he served as a reserve deputy in 2003. He later became an IMPD reserve officer when the departments merged a few years later.
Ashley Nolan worked for Riley Hospital for Children as administrative assistant.
A GoFundMe account set up to help support the teen survivors raised more than $180,000.
IMPD: Uber driver arrested after raping, killing Indy woman
In mid-September, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrested an Uber driver in relation to a missing woman who was found dead on the near southeast side.
But an ensuing investigation provided more information about Francisco Valadez’s alleged involvement in the death of 30-year-old Chanti Dixon.
“This is disgusting, it’s disturbing,” IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said at the time. “No one deserves to be treated this way in our community and I am so sorry to her family that we’re here today.”
Dixon’s body was found in a wooded area near the 1800 block of Wagner Lane on the afternoon of Sept. 9. Officials said at the time that Dixon’s family tracked her phone to the woods and found her body. During an investigation by the Marion County Coroner’s Office, officials said that Dixon had a gunshot wound to the left side of the head.
After speaking with Dixon’s family, IMPD found that no one had spoken with her since she had gotten off work Sunday morning and ordered an Uber home. Valadez was later identified as the driver who picked Dixon up early Sunday morning.
When he was talking with police, Valadez reportedly admitted to raping Dixon in the back of his car and shot her after Valadez said she insulted his body. IMPD also said at the time that Valadez also admitted to trying to have sex with Dixon’s dead body.
“Women, girls, mothers…they have a right to exist freely in our community without fear of something heinous happening to them,” IMPD Assistant Chief Catherine Cummings said at the time. “They have a right to walk, bike, order a rideshare without fearing something bad will happen to them.”
In a statement from Uber at the time, they said that Valadez had been banned as a driver from the platform. Officials also said that the company is “deeply committed to safety” and will “assist Indianapolis police” with the investigation.
