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Two years later, neighborhood says Harding Street quadruple homicide victims feel 'forgotten'

Posted at 4:37 PM, Mar 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-24 19:47:49-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Two years after a brutal quadruple murder on Indy's northwest side, the neighborhood has not forgotten those it lost. But it feels like the rest of the city has.

"I think there's a lot of frustration, particularly from the family members who are part of this neighborhood that, after two years, these homicides have still gone unsolved," Rev. Charles Harrison said Friday as he prepared to join in a remembrance of the two-year anniversary of the murders of 32-year-old Tiara Turner, 41-year-old Terri Betties, 48-year-old Sherry Taylor and 18-year-old Davon Whitlock.

"You have a mother and a son who were killed, and then two other individuals that were killed in that homicide, and still there's a lot of pain surrounding that homicide on Harding Street," Harrison said. "And the unknown surrounding what really did happen over there. You hear that a lot in the neighborhood, you know, what really did happen? They feel like those four individuals have really been forgotten, and that's what's frustrating to a lot of residents in this neighborhood."

 

Shortly after 9:30 a.m. on March 24, 2015, IMPD officers were called to a home in the 3100 block of North Harding Street.

Inside, they found the bodies of three women and one man – all shot "execution style," according to police accounts. A coroner later determined the victims had all been shot at least six times each.

Investigators found signs of forced entry into the home. The residence was ransacked. Police found shell casings strewn throughout.

Above: Investigators comb the scene of a quadruple murder on Harding Street on March 24, 2015. (File photo)

MORE | Four bodies found inside home on city's northwest side | One year later, brutal Harding Street quadruple murder remains unsolved

In an update five months after the murders, IMPD detectives said they were "baffled" by the total lack of leads in the case.

Det. Marcus Kennedy told RTV6 the same thing at the one-year mark.

"We don't have any witnesses, and very little evidence," Kennedy said. "So where do we go from there? If people won't come forward with information … and obviously, somebody knows something. But they've got to come forward."

Above: Neighbors and family members leave messages to the victims on the side of the Harding Street house. (File photo)

Harrison said the lack of closure in the case has caused bitterness about it in the neighborhood.

"I think part of what the challenge we have out here is that people feel like because there's been no justice or closure for these families, that, have the necessary resources been put in to solving this very horrific crime where four people were brutally killed?" Harrison said. "For many in the neighborhood, this did not draw the kind of attention that other homicides have. I think that's what's leaving a lasting sting, particularly with the family members but also the neighborhood. People really want to feel like those four lives were valued."

If you have information that can help solve these murders, or any unsolved cases in Indianapolis, you’re urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.