Published July 14, 2008 07:23 pm - INDIANAPOLIS — Prosecutors filed a murder charge Monday against a man who authorities say killed a 69-year-old robbery victim and later shot and critically injured a police officer who was trying to arrest him.
7:23 p.m.: Wounded man charged in police shooting
INDIANAPOLIS — Prosecutors filed a murder charge Monday against a man who authorities say killed a 69-year-old robbery victim and later shot and critically injured a police officer who was trying to arrest him.
Brian Reese, 36, of Indianapolis also was charged Monday with robbery, burglary, and a handgun violation in the July 6 home invasion robbery and shooting death of 69-year-old Clifford Haddix, one of 11 homicides in the city in less that two weeks, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said.
Authorities say Reese shot Officer Jason Fishburn in the head Thursday while the officer attempted to arrest him in the robbery-slaying. Prosecutors have not yet filed charges for that shooting, during which Reese suffered a shoulder wound.
Prosecutors also charged Reese’s father and girlfriend in the robbery. Paul Reese, 65, was charged with robbery, burglary and felony murder since Haddix died during the commission of a crime.
Lona Bishop, 24, was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, and Brizzi suggested she might testify against her boyfriend.
“She did give a statement to the authorities and we are talking with her defense counsel now in terms of what her level of cooperation is going to be,” Brizzi said.
The charges against Brian Reese carry a maximum prison term of 113 years. Brizzi said he was still weighing whether to file a death penalty charge.
“We are waiting to see how Officer Fishburn’s condition improves. I’m cautiously optimistic that he’s going to be OK,” Brizzi said.
Fishburn showed improvement Monday at Wishard Memorial Hospital. Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Thompson said Fishburn had opened his eyes at times and grasped the hands of a loved one, and that he was responding to certain pain stimuli and taking some breaths on his own. The medication that keeps him in a coma has been reduced at times for tests, Thompson said.
Fishburn’s condition was upgraded from “guarded critical stable” to “critical stable,” suggesting he no longer was at immediate risk of a deterioration that could end with his death, said another police spokesman, Sgt. Matt Mount.
The charges against Paul Reese carry a maximum penalty of 85 years in prison, and Bishop, if convicted, could face 20 to 50 years in prison, Brizzi said.
The two waited outside while Brian Reese used his shoulder to force his way through a doorway of Haddix’s home, then shot the victim three times before making off with guns, ammunition, jewelry and other items, Brizzi said.
Fishburn was among the officers searching for Reese when the suspect was spotted in a van driven by his 66-year-old mother, Barbara Reese, in a neighborhood on the city’s east side, police have said. Reese fled on foot when she stopped in a supermarket parking lot, and the officer chased him through an apartment complex before the exchange of gunfire.
Barbara Reese will face a charge of resisting law enforcement, Brizzi said.
“It’s a really interesting family,” the prosecutor said.