39-year-old enters into plea deal for Courtyard Marriott shooting in 2016
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 39-year-old Indianapolis man entered in an agreement Thursday to plead guilty to a count of attempted murder in connection to the shooting of two hotel employees in 2016, online records show.
Paul L. Thompson would have a second count of attempted murder and a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon dropped as part of the plea deal filed in Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division 5.
On the morning of April 16, 2016, Thompson shot Sarah McKinney, 23, of Indianapolis, three times in the back at the Courtyard Marriott in the 4600 block of Southport Crossing Drive, just off Interstate 65 and Southport Road, police said. The mother of three was shot in her hips and her spine. She was left with no feeling in her legs and had to use a walker.
After that shooting, Thompson went to the home of Darryl Nichols, 37, of Indianapolis, and shot him multiple times. The home was in the 2900 block of Carson Drive, just northwest of the I-466 and I-65 interchange on the south side, police said.
Thompson, McKinney and Nichols worked at the hotel together but on different shifts.
Police said Thompson and McKinney have two children and were in the process of breaking up. McKinney had put a restraining order against him before the shooting.
Thompson was captured in Joliet, Illinois, after the shootings.
Thompson’s sentencing hearing was set for 1 p.m. March 6.
