Quadruple homicide suspect may avoid murder conviction through plea agreement

Photos provided by families

Kimari Hunt (upper left), Braxton Ford (upper right), Marcel Wills (bottom left) and Jalen Roberts (bottom right) were murdered Feb. 5, 2020.

By: Lucas Gonzalez

INDIANAPOLIS — One of four people charged in connection with a quadruple homicide in 2020 may have avoided a murder conviction by pleading guilty to other counts against him.

Rodreice Anderson, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty to a total of four counts of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss four charges of murder against him.

The agreement states that the court will impose a total sentence of 30 years in prison with five years suspended. Anderson is scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing on Feb. 24, 2023.

However, the plea agreement is contingent on the resolution of cases against Anderson's co-defendants.

Police named Anderson as a suspect in the killings, which happened Feb. 5, 2020 in Indianapolis' Far Eastside neighborhood. The victims — Marcel Wills, 20, Braxton Ford, 21, Kimari Hunt, 21, and Jalen Roberts, 19 — all died from multiple gunshot wounds, authorities have said.

Court documents allege that Anderson and the three other suspects had planned to rob Roberts at his apartment that day. During the course of that robbery, Roberts, Hunt, Ford and Wills were all killed.

Officers found the four victims while responding about 10:30 p.m. to the 4100 block of Shady Oak Drive.

When investigators arrived at the scene, they noted that the home appeared to have been ransacked with "drawers pulled out and falling from dressers." An empty black safe was also located in one of the open closets, open, with the key still on top. Two guns were also missing from the home, according to court documents.

Witnesses told detectives people were gambling at the house before the shooting and gave detectives a vehicle description, which they used to find a suspect vehicle from nearby surveillance video.

The other three suspects — Lasean Watkins, Cameron Banks and Desmond Banks — are scheduled to appear for a five-day jury trial from Feb. 6-10, 2023 in Marion Superior Court.