KOKOMO, Ind. — A jury has acquitted one of the men accused of the 2013 Kokomo murder of 21-year-old Destiny Pittman.
Jesse McCartney, 36, was charged with two counts of felony murder, robbery resulting in bodily injury, burglary resulting in bodily injury, and conspiracy to commit burglary, as well as felony burglary.
According to our newsgathering partners at The Kokomo Tribune, McCartney was acquitted by the jury in less than 90 minutes on Aug. 11.
McCartney's attorney, Jeffrey Elftman, told the Kokomo Tribune that the 2013 killing was a "tragedy" and that he "hopes they find the real killer."
Howard County Deputy Prosecutor Thomas White Jr. told The Kokomo Tribune he couldn't comment on the case, and the prosecution would need to "regroup" prior to the trial of McCartney's brother, Joey.
Joey, who is facing the same charges as his brother, has a trial date set for Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Pittman was found shot to death Feb. 7, 2013, on James Drive in Kokomo.
In March 2023, Kokomo Police Department announced officers and U.S. Marshals arrested Joey in Graham, Kentucky and Jesse at a Kokomo home.
According to court documents, on the day of the killing, there was a loud banging on the door of the home Pittman shared with two others. Witnesses in the home said the door was then kicked in. When Pittman went out to confront the intruders, she was shot in the chest.
Court documents then claim the intruders were searching the home, which police believe was for drugs that Pittman and a man living in the home were selling.
Investigators said there were no significant leads in the case for nearly a decade.
Then, in December 2022, a woman called police and asked to speak to a detective. She told investigators that she "thought we would have solved the case another way by now," police claim in court documents.
The woman told police she couldn't keep this to herself anymore after repeatedly seeing press releases on the case over the years.
She told investigators that Jesse and her drove to Pittman's home the day of the killing. She said Jesse told her to stay in the car and then went up to the home. The woman said she believed it was Joey who then ran up to the house and joined Jesse as they went inside.
The woman claims she heard a loud bang, and then Jesse and Joey ran out of the house. In court documents, the woman claims Jesse was carrying a bag of marijuana and a handful of money.
She alleges she and Jesse drove back to Jesse's apartment, and then Joey joined them. She said Jesse then made her drive back by the home the next day, but there was police tape up.
In court documents, the woman said Jesse sold his Jeep and gun six months later.
The woman told investigators she waited all these years to tell what happened because she "was scared and still is."
Anyone with additional information on the incident is asked to call the Kokomo Police Department at 765-456-7017.