Accused Noblesville Shooter's Lawyer Meeting Overheard By Officer

NOBLESVILLE, IN — The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is addressing a May 26 incident involving the 13-year-old shooting suspect in the May 25 Noblesville West Middle School shooting, his attorney and a corrections officer. According to sheriff's officials, the alleged perpetrator of the shooting had a meeting with an attorney at the Hamilton County Juvenile Services Center Secure Detention facility, during which the corrections officer working in the building's control room, Stephanie Kingen, tried to activate a camera in the visitation room for everyone's safety. But the camera didn't start, according to officials, at which point Kingen used her training and turned on an intercom in the room in order to activate the camera.

Sheriff's Officials said the officer immediately turned the intercom volume as low as it would go, preventing the conversation between the accused teenage shooter and his attorney from being overheard.

Staff members reported what happened and Sheriff Mark Bowen notified the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office regarding the officer overhearing part of the May 26 conversation. According to officials, Bowen also directly shared the information with the juvenile's attorneys and an Internal Affairs investigation was completed by the Sheriff's Department in early June.

The sheriff's department said the investigation concluded there was no evidence Kingen was intentionally listening in on the conversation or that any of the information she heard was released.

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All sheriff's employees were recommended to get additional training, and Kingen was retrained in control room job responsibilities, confidentiality and received a three-day suspension. Additionally, the intercom system in that room was deactivated and the camera system repaired.

According to WTHR, the shooting suspect's attorney, Chris Eskew, said the law firm doesn't believe the May 26 incident will impact the case, though he called it a "huge mistake of one individual." Eskew added that the firm would have acted if they felt there was any harm.

Patch reported the "fact-finding hearing" as it's called in juvenile court, originally scheduled for the 13-year-old shooting suspect on June 25 and 26 is now scheduled for 9 a.m., Sept. 10 and 11.

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