A jury on May 25 indicted a suspect on killing an Indian American man in Hamilton, Ohio on two counts of felony murder.
Jaspreet Singh, 32, was shot to death on May 12 while seated in his car. Emergency Medical Technicians arriving at the incident rushed him to Fort Hamilton Hospital suffering a gunshot wound to his upper torso and later shifted to Miami Valley Hospital where he declared dead on May 22.
Singh hails from Nadala village near Kapurthala in Punjab. He is an immigrant of United States for about eight years and was working as a truck driver.
According to police, Singh was in his car late evening on May 12 when he was shot from behind by Broderick Malik Jones Roberts, 20.
Roberts was arrested on May 13 after an intensive search, said Hamilton police Chief Craig Bucheit.
Roberts initially indicted for aggravated robbery, felonious assault and unlawful possession of weapons. After death of Singh, Ohio prosecutor Michael Gmoser re-presented the case to a jury, who added on the two counts of felony murder. Roberts will be facing 18 years of life imprisonment if found guilty of charges.
Roberts initially held on bail for $125,000 at Butler County Jail, now increasing the bail amount to $1 million.
Gmoser said he would not speculate on a motive for the heinous crime. He did note that Singh wore a turban, but added there was no evidence that Roberts shot Singh because he wore a turban. There is no indication that this case was racially motivated. There was no evidence of drugs at the scene of the crime.
Gurbinder Singh, director of United Sikhs, which is helping the family with financial and legal support, told that there was no evidence of robbery, no money or anything else was taken.
By Sowmya Sangam
