Richmond Hill survivor recalls deadly explosion 10 years later
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Today marks 10 years since the deadly explosion in a southeast side neighborhood that destroyed homes and killed a husband and a wife.
A decade since the explosion, people in the Richmond Hill neighborhood continue to recover after its devastating impact.
Vicky Koerner, a resident of Richmond Hill, said, “I was upstairs in the bathroom and I went up and then down and just thought that I was just going to keep going through the floor, so it just happened so quickly.”
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Koerner says she was getting ready to go to bed when the unthinkable happened — a home three doors down blew up — claiming the lives of Dion and Jennifer Longworth.
“There was flying debris, and pieces and partially burned houses with just some of the structure still standing,” Koerner said.
Investigators said the explosion was set intentionally by Mark Leonard with help from his girlfriend Monserrate Shirley and his brother Bob.
Prosecutors charged five people in all, in connection to the plot to collect insurance money.
“We lost a lot of personal stuff. We lost our house, but to me that’s nothing compared to the lives of my family, so yeah. You just have to put it all in perspective,” Koerner said. “My son was driving down Alcona, which if he had come down this road he wouldn’t be here. So, it’s just a matter of a choice because he saw the explosion when it happened and thought it was a terrorist attack.”
Koerner says some of the people that lived in the community 10 years ago left, but for those who stayed memories of that tragic night still linger.
“New neighbors that didn’t experience that really probably don’t understand, but for those of us that lived through it those loud noises even in the field we’ve heard before like gunshots or something,” Koerner said, “Just that loud unexpected boom it kind of triggers something.”
Overall she says the community has come out stronger.
“I’m grateful and thankful for my family and friends and the community and just don’t take anything for granted because you just never know in a split second how things can change.”