Man Charged With Murder In Girl's Beating Death

ANDERSON, Ind. -- Murder charges were filed Wednesday against a man accused of beating a 14-year-old girl to death.

Jesse L. Pitts, 20, has been jailed since last Thursday, when Amanda Brinker, 14, was found dead on a bank of the White River, near Edgewood Park.

An autopsy showed that Brinker died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Pitts called 911 to report the death and told police that he hit Brinker in the head with a car jack handle but didn't tell them why.

"That's the most frustrating part -- to not know why," said Anderson police Detective Terry Sollars. "I don't know that I want to go there in his mind as to why because it might be a pretty scary place, really."

Police said Brinker was not pregnant at the time of her death but that she might have been sexually assaulted, in which case Pitts would face additional charges.

Officials said that more people might be charged with interfering in their investigation.