Man accused of killing Elwood police officer in court Tuesday
ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — The man accused of murdering Elwood police officer Noah Shahnavaz last summer is set to appear in court Tuesday morning in Madison County.
Carl Roy Webb Boards II, of Anderson, is charged with murder and several other crimes.
Investigators say Boards got out of his car during a traffic stop on July 31, 2022, and fired at least three dozen rounds from a high-powered rifle at Shahnavaz, fatally wounding him.
Shahnavaz, 24, died after being flown via medical helicopter to Indianapolis. A coroner’s report said Shahnavaz was hit by more than 30 rounds and died from gunshot wounds to the head and body.
Boards was arrested later that morning after a police chase that ended on I-69 near the 106th Street interchange in Fishers.
Court papers say Boards had a handgun in his possession and a “black rifle with a high-capacity magazine” was in the driver’s seat of his car.
In August, the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office announced it would seek the death penalty.
“The death sentence is the law in the state of Indiana, and, if it is going to be pursued, this is the kind of case where it needs to be pursued,” Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said in a news conference.
Cummings said in August that he would not accept a plea deal and planned to take the case to a jury.
Death penalty cases, from start to finish, could take from 15 to 20 years, and a death penalty case can cost the state as much as $500,000, Cummings told I-Team 8’s Richard Essex last year.
Indiana currently has eight men on death row. Their time on death row spans anywhere from seven to 28 years.
Online records show Boards is set to appear before Madison County Circuit Court Judge Andrew R. Hopper at 10 a.m. for a confidential hearing, followed by a pretrial conference.
A trial date has not been set.
Extensive criminal history could factor in death penalty decision
A factor that could lead to the death penalty is Boards’ extensive criminal history.
Court papers show that in April 2006, Boards ran from Indianapolis police during a traffic stop and fired six or seven shots at officers.
Boards was originally charged with attempted murder but appealed and was instead convicted of criminal recklessness. He was released on parole in August 2021, just over a year before the shooting that killed Officer Shahnavaz.
Online records show Boards’ criminal history also includes convictions for battery with a deadly weapon, drug possession, unlawful possession by a serious violent felon, resisting law enforcement, and firearm possession within one mile of a school without the proper license.
