Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Indy man pleads not guilty to July homicide

An Indianapolis man facing a murder charge pleaded not guilty Monday morning to a homicide that took place in late July.

Caleb Antonio Keller, 27, was arrested in Muncie, Indiana, last week after police received a tip about his whereabouts. A warrant had been out for his arrest since November, when he was accused of violating probation for a domestic battery charge.

Keller is charged with the murder of Anthony Jones, another Indianapolis resident. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a 911 call about a man who had been shot in a car around 4 a.m. on July 28, according to court documents. An autopsy revealed he had been shot multiple times — in both legs, the chest and the head.

There were multiple blood stains and scratch marks that may have been left by the victim’s car keys during an altercation throughout the car.

Police interviews suggested the murder took place after an argument about money the victim owed to Keller. The two had been hanging out in the car, but Keller confronted him about the money after another man, Anwar Jones, had joined them. Fingerprints from both Anwar Jones and Keller were found in the vehicle during the investigation.

Although police spoke with Anwar Jones and Keller in the months following the shooting, both men denied their involvement. Keller initially denied knowing the victim, his accomplice, or even being in the area on the night of the shooting. He later changed his story and said he had been in the car with “three people he couldn’t describe” but had left around midnight to eat at Denny’s with his 
girlfriend.

In January police spoke with an acquaintance of Keller and Jones. The acquaintance said the two men had visited him and told him about the shooting the day after it happened, according to court documents.

Jones evidently shot the man twice and then fled, according to the acquaintance’s account. Keller stayed behind and asked the victim if he knew who’d shot him. When he nodded, Keller shot him in the face, according to court documents. The acquaintance said Keller had been angry Jones hadn’t “finished the job.”

The man also confirmed Keller and Anwar Jones had known each other all their lives and they both carried revolvers consistent with the ballistics from the shooting.

When Keller, cuffed and clad in a crimson jumpsuit and orange Crocs, walked into the courtroom Monday morning, he appeared to be calm. He nodded and smiled at the judge as he sat down and answered all questions politely.

As the judge assessed Keller’s standing, she inquired about his finances and asked if he owned anything of value.

Keller laughed aloud and shook his head.

“No ma’am.”

Keller requested a public defender. At the end of his hearing, he stood and struggled to straighten his stack of court papers against the desk with his hands still cuffed. He smiled at the judge one last time as he left the courtroom.

Keller’s trial is scheduled for April 10. Anwar Jones’ hearing was Jan. 19, and his trial is also scheduled for April 10.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe