An Indiana man has been found guilty of murdering his former girlfriend, whose body was discovered shot to death in her Indianapolis home last year.
According to a statement from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, 54-year-old Melisa Hansboro was found dead on June 1, 2023, lying on the floor of her residence. Her ex-boyfriend, Jerry Lewis, was convicted of her murder on Thursday, Oct. 23.
Hansboro had been moving into her new home only hours before her 6-year-old grandson made the tragic discovery, the Indianapolis Star reported. Earlier that day, her daughter and grandchildren became worried when they arrived at Hansboro’s home and noticed her car was missing. When the daughter tried calling her mother, she heard the phone ringing inside the locked house but received no response.
After entering the residence with her children, she found Hansboro’s body with a gunshot wound to the back of her neck. Investigators determined through gunshot residue that she had been shot at close range, the prosecutor’s office said.
Court documents cited by IndyStar reveal that Hansboro and Lewis were in the midst of a breakup at the time. Lewis was reportedly inside the house when the two argued shortly before the shooting. Afterward, he went to a friend’s home and asked to be driven to the police station, admitting that he had “messed up his life,” prosecutors said.
A jury convicted Lewis of murder after just 31 minutes of deliberation, following a three-day trial.
“The jury’s swift verdict is a reflection of strong investigative work and a trial team determined to get this family the justice they deserve,” Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in the statement.
