Man sentenced to 75 years in prison for killing ex-Muncie resident
Douglas WalkerMARION, Ind. — A Wabash man convicted of killing a former Muncie resident has been sentenced to 75 years in prison.
A Grant Superior Court 1 jury in April found Matthew Shannon Whitt, now 42, guilty of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and obstruction of justice.
Whitt had been accused of fatally shooting Steven Brent Nickell, 33, on Feb. 10, 2020.
The slaying took place in a home, in the 6100 block of South Grant County Road 500-E, that was occupied by a woman who is Whitt's half-sister and until recently had been Nickell's girlfriend.
Investigators said Nickell was shot in the head and chest.
Whitt gave authorities conflicting accounts of how the homicide took place.
He at first said he had encountered an intruder, who struck him over the head with a handgun, in his sister's home, and managed to wrestle the gun away from his assailant and shoot him.
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Whitt later indicated he had shot Nickell after the former Muncie man entered the house while armed with a firearm.
Because of a criminal record that included convictions for arson and burglary, Whitt was prohibited from possessing guns.
The Wabash man was sentenced in recent days by Grant Superior Court 1 Judge Jeffrey Todd. He received credit for 430 days already spent in the Grant County jail.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.