Re-sentencing date set for 3 of the 'Elkhart Four'
ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. - A re-sentencing date has been set for three of the "Elkhart Four" whose murder convictions were overturned in September 2015.
The Indiana Supreme Court overturned their murder convictions and found all three guilty of burglary in September.
Blake Layman, Levi Sparks and Anthony Sharp will be sentenced January 7, 2016, according to the Indiana courts website.
On October 3, 2014, Layman, Sparks, Sharp, Jose Quiroz and Danzele Johnson burglarized a home they believed was empty.
While inside the home, the homeowner came downstairs and shot and killed Johnson.
Layman, Sparks, Sharp and Quiroz were charged with murder in the perpetration of a burglary.
Quiroz pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 55 years in prison and testified against Layman, Sparks and Sharp.
Layman, Sparks and Sharp were all convicted of murder. Layman and Sharp were sentenced to 55 years and Sparks was sentenced to 50 years.
The Indiana Supreme Court reversed their convictions because their case differed from other cases where a murder charge was filed in the death of a co-conspirator.
The court ruled the suspects were unarmed and there was nothing in their conduct that would have allowed them to anticipate Johnson's death