Family speaks out after homicide suspect appears in court

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) – The suspect who was wanted in connection with a homicide from June and arrested after a standoff on Saturday was in court Monday morning.

The Terre Haute Police Department’s Special Response Team was called to a house near the intersection of 15th Street and Barbour Avenue on Saturday afternoon.

After several hours, Buddy Ellinger Junior was taken into custody.

Ellinger, Junior was named as a suspect in connection with a homicide investigation that started on June 10. On that morning police were called to an apartment in the Greendwood Manor Complex after Thomas Fuller III was found dead. Ellinger, Junior is facing charges including murder, aggravated battery, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and habitual offender.

Before going into the courthouse Monday morning, the family of Thomas ‘Pete” Fuller told 24-Hour News 8’s sister station, WTHI, his mother, sister and daughter were accompanied by several other friends and family and they all agree that they want justice for ‘Pete.’

Fuller’s mother, Benny Burris, read a letter Fuller’s daughter wrote to him.

“He will never see me walk down the aisle or see his grandkids, or won’t see me graduate,” Benny read. “I want Buddy to go to prison and never get out. So no little girl doesn’t have to wake up without her dad. It hurts not to have my dad there, to watch me grow up or my little brother.”

Ellinger Junior is due back in court on Friday and his jury trial date is set for Feb. 13. Due to the murder charge, no bond was set.