An Indiana man convicted of murder in the 2022 fatal shooting of a Dutch solider in downtown Indianapolis was sentenced to 105 years in prison Monday, the prosecutor’s office said.
Shamar Duncan, of Indianapolis, admitted that he fired the shots around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2022, after a fistfight but that he did not intend to kill anyone.
Dutch Corporal Simmie Poetsema was struck and killed, and two other Royal Netherlands Army soldiers were shot and injured. The soldiers were in the United States for training nearby.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears on Monday called the fatal shooting “yet another example of the toxic and tragic combination of guns and alcohol.”
“The defendant chose to escalate an already resolved conflict when he picked up his weapon, murdered Simmie, and shot his fellow soldiers,” Mears said in a statement after the sentencing.
The soldiers, members of the Dutch Commando Corps, were shot outside the hotel where they were staying.
Duncan was convicted by a jury in January of murder; attempted murder; batter and disorderly conduct, records show.
The prosecutor during the trial, Daniel Cicchini said that Duncan was downtown with his two brothers that night, and there was an argument and fistfight with the soldiers, who were highly trained and won.
Duncan left but later returned in the rear of a vehicle and opened fire on a crowd, Cicchini said.
Duncan at trial testified in his own defense that he fired but did not mean to kill anyone, NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis reported. He testified that he was “just kind of angry” after the fight.
“Just kind of, I wouldn’t say making a statement but like, ‘it’s not OK,” he said on the stand. “It’s not OK what just happened.”
Duncan’s attorney, David Margerum, argued that when Duncan fired a 9 mm handgun at the hotel after drinking all night, “he kind of did it in blind rage,” and didn’t have any time to form a clear intent. The shooting happened between 30 seconds to two minutes after the fight ended, Margerum told jurors.
Duncan was sentenced to a 60-year sentence on the murder count; 35 years for attempted murder; and 10 years on the battery count. All were ordered served consecutive, or one after the other, amounting to 105 years, court records show.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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