Carrender to plead not guilty in murder

Morgan County resident David Carrender said he will plead not guilty in the Oct. 13 murder of his 19-year-old son, Wyatt Carrender.

Carrender was charged with murder Oct. 16 in Morgan County Circuit Court in Martinsville. He is being held in the Morgan County Jail without bail.

Carrender declined a court-appointed attorney during his initial arrest and said he will obtain his own council.

Carrender initially claimed he shot his son because his son also had weapons in the house, and he feared his son was going to harm others in the residence, according to an affidavit.

David Carrender’s defense is similar to that used in a recent case involving Elizabeth Roberts of Greenfield, Ind., who shot and killed her husband.

Her husband threatened to shoot police officers should they arrive at the residence, and so Roberts preemptively shot her husband, according to USA Today. Her husband handed her the gun used to shoot him.

Under the “defense of others” provision in Indiana law, this was enough for her to be cleared of charges.

Carrender’s final pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 8 with a tentative jury trial date of Feb. 10.

— Hannah Smith