A Greenwood man will serve 35 years for conspiring to murder and rob a ride-share driver three years ago in Indianapolis.
Jahion Jarrett, 19, was sentenced Monday to 35 years in the Indiana Department of Correction by Marion Superior Court 27 Judge Angela Davis for conspiracy to commit murder where the conspiracy results in death, a Level 1 felony, for the fatal shooting of 45-year-old Hurts Presendieu. He previously pled guilty in January to the charge, which as part of a plea agreement led to the dismissal of several other charges.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police say Jarrett requested a Lyft ride using someone else’s account on the evening of July 8, 2021. He allegedly shot the driver, Presendieu, in the head, robbed him, dumped his body behind an east side church and stole his car, according to court documents.
The body was discovered the next night near a storage barn behind the church in the 9400 block of E. 25th St. Security and street cameras, as well as a GPS monitoring bracelet worn by Jarrett at the time, placed him at the scene and in the victim’s car, according to court documents.
Just before 4 a.m. July 12, 2021, Cumberland Police attempted to stop the victim’s car in the 900 block of Muessing St. It initially stopped, then fled. The car crashed near East Washington Street and Shadeland Avenue, and police detained three juveniles. Jarrett was driving, court documents show.
Police searched the car July 14, 2021, and found suspected dried blood droplets smeared and splattered throughout the vehicle, which smelled of suspected decomposing blood. The next day, police served search warrants at the homes of the two juveniles who were in the car with Jarrett, and at a home that turned out to be an old address for Jarrett, according to court documents.
Jarrett was located at a Greenwood apartment on July 26, 2021. He told police he remembered nothing and refused to answer certain questions, but admitted he used Lyft from time to time, court documents show.
When police told Jarrett they were investigating a murder, he pointed down at his leg with a smile, indicating that he was on GPS monitoring. He told police he had never taken it off, court documents show.
Witnesses said Jarrett told them the requested Lyft ride was going to be a “lick,” which is slang for a robbery. Jarrett later told witnesses he shot the Lyft driver in the head, then went to an area near a church, according to court documents.
Jarrett had been charged in September 2020 with armed robbery, auto theft, dangerous possession of a firearm by a child and criminal mischief. He was on probation at the time of the murder, according to online court records.
