UPDATE: Gaylyn Morris was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
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INDIANAPOLIS — A woman has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after running over and killing a man believed to be her boyfriend in 2022.
Court records showed Gaylyn Morris was found guilty after a three-day trial of voluntary manslaughter on Aug. 17.
Morris originally faced murder charges after the June 2022 incident where she was accused of driving over a man multiple times at an Indy north side pub, the victim later identified as 26-year-old Andre Smith.
Indianapolis metro police detectives confirmed the death was domestic-related and advocates said they hoped the case sent a simple message to anyone involved in an “unhealthy relationship.”
On June 3, 2022, IMPD responded to the parking lot of Tilly’s Pub on 82nd Street around 12:30 a.m. Smith was found under the front end of a Chevy Impala and was pronounced dead nearly 30 minutes later.
An autopsy confirmed Smith had died from traumatic asphyxia and his death was ruled a “homicide.”
The probable cause stated at least two witnesses told officers that Morris had pulled up to the side of the bar asking about Smith and informed them she’d been tracking him via an Apple AirTag GPS device on her phone.
Morris alleged that Smith had been cheating on her and seeing other women. Once she spotted him, she confronted Smith and a woman he was with at the bar. Police said Morris took an empty bottle and swung at the woman. Smith blocked the hit.
After the altercation, the bartender told them all to leave. A witness had reported seeing Morris waiting in the parking lot next door for Smith and the other woman to leave.
That’s when police said Morris had pulled forward onto the sidewalk, clipped a worker and hit Smith, who disappeared under the car. Witnesses stated Morris backed over Smith and then pulled forward again and stopped the car on top of him.
She was eventually charged with murder but found guilty of voluntary manslaughter on Thursday. A level 2 Felony carries a sentence of up to 30 years.
A sentencing hearing was set for Sept. 21 at 10 a.m.
