INDIANAPOLIS -- Too many murder charges are being dropped in Indianapolis, according to an anti-violence advocate – himself the father of the victim of an Indianapolis homicide.
Andrew Holmes' daughter, 32-year-old Tamara Sword, was shot and killed in August 2015 after a fight spilled out of a nightclub near 38th Street and Lafayette Road.
FULL STORY | Chicago anti-violence activist mourns daughter, mother of 5, killed in Indianapolis shooting
Michael Edwards and Kenneth Jones were charged with her murder. But last month, those charges were dismissed because an eyewitness could not be located.
Prosecutors say they reserve the option to refile those charges, and point out there's no statute of limitations on murder.
But Holmes says such dismissals are happening too often.
"We don't want to come out here and protest. We don't want to do none of that," Holmes said. "But we do want to get some understanding between the prosecutor's office and the police department so we can work together to bridge this gap and get some solutions to bring these perpetrators to justice."
MAP | 2016 Indianapolis Homicides
The prosecutor's office says dismissals in attempted murder and murder cases are at similar levels this year compared to previous years. Last year, there were 22 dismissals in such cases. There have been 14 so far this year.
Charges in other high-profile cases have also been dropped in recent years. Read more about some of them below:
Richard Grundy III
FULL STORY | Murder charges dropped against alleged 'Grundy Crew' ringleader
Indianapolis police and the Marion County Prosecutor's Office held a press conference in September 2015 to tout the arrests of multiple members of the "Grundy Crew" criminal organization – including alleged ringleader Richard Grundy III, who was himself charged with four counts of murder.
In April, though, prosecutors announced they were dropping all four murder charges after it was discovered a key witness had lied to police about her identity. Grundy nevertheless remained behind bars on a number of other charges.
Deandre Kendrick
FULL STORY | Evidence problems sink charges in 2014 triple homicide
Prosecutors charged Keith Clark and Deandre Kendrick in December 2014 with a triple murder in March of that year that claimed the lives of Martha Zuluaga, James Czjkowski and Stephen Harold. But in July, they announced those charges would be dropped against Kendrick due to problems with evidence in the case. All of the charges against Clark are still scheduled to proceed to trial.
Kendrick was sentenced earlier this year to 45 years in prison in connection with the April 2014 murder of Ronald Howard and the attempted murder of Jermaine Sisk.
Eron Bonner
FULL STORY | Charges dropped in teen's fatal July 4 shooting
Sixteen-year-old Monquize Edwards was found fatally shot on the Fourth of July in 2013. Police arrested another teen, Eron Bonner, for the crime, saying he didn't even know Edwards, only that they belonged to rival gangs.
In September 2014, the prosecutor's office announced it was dropping the charges against Bonner due to "uncooperative witnesses" and "evidentiary problems."
William Rainsberger
FULL STORY | Murder charges dropped against man suspected of killing mother with hammer
William Rainsberger called 911 in November 2013 claiming he'd found his mother inside her apartment with her head bashed in. Police later arrested him and charged him with murdering her with a hammer.
Those charges were dropped in July 2015. Prosecutors cited "evidentiary problems" in that decision.
