State Rep. Garcia Wilburn requests summer study committee to explore remedies for insufficient sentencing of Officer Breann Leath’s killer

Earlier this month, Elliahs Dorsey was sentenced to time served for killing Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Breann Leath in April 2020.

In response, State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D-Fishers), along with her colleague State Rep. Mitch Gore (D-Indianapolis), asked General Assembly leadership to assign the topic of increasing the crime of reckless homicide to a Level 3 felony to an interim study committee this year. Currently, reckless homicide is a Level 5 felony, carrying a sentence of one to six years. Level 3 felonies carry a sentencing range of three to 16 years in prison.

Garcia Wilburn issued the following statement on the request:

Garcia Wilburn

“As the wife of a former IMPD officer, I was troubled by this month’s news that Officer Breann Leath’s killer was sentenced to time served for killing her. This occurred because Elliahs Dorsey was charged with reckless homicide, a crime that carries a sentence of one to six years in prison in Indiana, and the judge ruled that his four years in jail was enough.

“While I am disappointed in Judge Stoner’s decision to not sentence Dorsey to the maximum allowable sentence, this case has prompted a big question for Rep. Gore, the Central Indiana law enforcement community and myself: Why does reckless homicide, the killing of another human being, potentially carry a minimum sentence of one year? In the context of Indiana’s criminal statute system, I believe that increasing reckless homicide to a Level 3 felony and thus a three-to-16-year sentence is fair and would make better amends for a homicide that is committed recklessly but committed nonetheless.

“I implore my fellow General Assembly lawmakers to join me in asking legislative leadership to add this issue to the summer study committee docket this interim. It’s what Bre and other victims of reckless homicide deserve.”