INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis judge has found a Lawrence man not guilty of murder in connection with the September 2010 deaths of his girlfriend and their baby daughter.
Twenty-three-year-old Joshwa Carlisle was acquitted Wednesday in the deaths of 25-year-old Tracie Shannon and her 9-month-old daughter, Juliana.
After Marion Superior Court Judge Mark Stoner said there wasn't enough evidence to convict Carlisle, one relative of the victims fainted and others were so overwhelmed they had to be helped to elevators.
Police said at the time of the slayings the baby had accelerant poured on her chest and was burned alive and that the child's mother had been smothered.
Defense attorneys argued Carlisle was innocent and no physical evidence linked him to the crime.
Carlisle waived his right to a jury trial.
