Delaware County jury acquits Muncie teen of murder

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — A Delaware County jury deliberated for five hours before finding a Muncie teen not guilty of murder.

Aytae A. Seals was 16 when he was arrested for allegedly shooting 21-year-old Martel Lavel Jones-Lampkins in Heekin Park on June 22, 2021. Jones-Lampkins was found by police in the back seat of a vehicle parked in the park’s east end. He died three days later at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

Seals was arrested four weeks after the homicide and has since been held in the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center. He was charged with murder and dangerous possession of a firearm.

Seals, now 17, pled guilty to dangerous possession of a firearm after the jury was unable to come to a verdict.

The Maximum penalty for dangerous possession of a firearm in Indiana is one year. Since Seals has been in custody for over a year awaiting trial, by law he had served his sentence.