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Indiana Supreme Court to hear Elkhart intruder shot case

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The Indiana Supreme Court will hear three Elkhart teenagers’ appeal of their murder convictions in the fatal shooting of an accomplice during a home break-in.

Levi Sparks, Blake Layman and Anthony Sharp were convicted in 21-year-old Danzele Johnson’s fatal 2012 shooting by a homeowner after the four broke into his Elkhart home.

Indiana law allows murder charges if someone is killed during the commission of another felony offense.

Sparks, Layman and Sharp want the court to take up their case and throw out their convictions and 45-year sentences. Their attorneys will argue during Thursday’s hearing that Indiana’s felony murder law was incorrectly applied in the case.

The trio appealed their convictions and sentences to the Indiana Court of Appeals, which upheld their convictions but ruled their sentences were too harsh.