Muncie man arrested on murder charges, body found in Indy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A man has been arrested on murder charges, after authorities said he lured another man to Indianapolis to kill him.
Martize Kirkland, 27, of Muncie, Ind., was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor: one count of murder, one count of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of auto theft and one count of carrying a handgun without a license.
On June 12, IMPD was called to a home near Binford Boulevard to investigate the report of a decomposing body. Once police arrived and were able to exhume the mummified remains, police were able to identify that it was a male victim and the crime lab found a bullet from the scene near the head of the body.
Detectives were able to identify tattoos from the remains and when they were submitted to the IMPD Missing Persons Division, no one matched the description of the male. The division contacted other law enforcement agencies throughout the state, to attempt to make a positive identification of the dead man.
The Delaware County Sheriff’s Department was able to identify the remains as that of Jeremy Johnson, 23, of Muncie, Ind.
According to police, Johnson had been reported missing by his grandmother in October 2014.
During interviews of known associates of Johnson’s, police learned that Kirkland bragged to friends that he “took care of Jeremy, we don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
Witnesses said that Kirkland took Johnson to Indianapolis in Johnson’s vehicle on Oct. 15, using the purchase and then the sub sequential use of heroin as a lure.
Court documents said that Kirkland then shot Johnson in the back of the head.
Kirkland then gave Johnson’s vehicle to a known associate, who stowed it in his girlfriend’s garage.
Phone records for Kirkland and Johnson’s phone numbers showed that phones belonging to Kirkland and Johnson traveled from Muncie to Indianapolis on Oct. 15.
Phone records also indicate that both cell phones were present near the location where Johnson’s body was discovered on Oct. 15.
Kirkland is being held in the Marion County Jail.