Dana Shepherd was sentenced to 45 years for the 1993 murder of Carmen Van Huss
America’s homicide rate drops to 100 by 2025
Fox News reporter Rebekah Castor joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to break down the FBI’s kidnapping of former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding and suspected killer Alejandro Rosales Castillo.
NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
A man who raped, stabbed and killed a 19-year-old Indianapolis woman 30 years ago was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday, ending a decades-old cold case.
Dana Shepherd, 53, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Friday, after signing a plea deal for the murder of Carmen Van Huss, local outlets reported, ending a long-running case.
“While there is no passing of time that can erase the unimaginable loss Carmen’s family has endured, we are grateful to have been convicted of murder more than 30 years after this terrible case,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement. “We hope this decision brings justice and peace to his loved ones, after thirty years of waiting for answers.”
Van Huss was killed in 1993 at the age of 19 after being raped and stabbed 61 times by a man who broke into her apartment, FOX 59 reported.
‘TIMES SQUARE KILLER’ USED POLICE BADGE TO KILL 18-YEAR-OLD NURSING STUDENT: DEATHBED CONFESS
Dana Shepherd was sentenced to 45 years in prison in connection with the rape and murder of Carmen Van Huss, 19, in 1993, closing a serious case. (FOX 59)
According to the source, Van Huss’ body was found by his father, the police said he was lying in a pool of blood. There were signs of a struggle, police said, including a collapsed table and scattered items.
More than 30 years after the murder, Missouri police arrested Shepherd and brought him back to Indianapolis to face charges of murder and rape with deadly force, the source said.
Shepherd – who was 20 years old when he was killed – was not linked to the investigation until a DNA test linked him to the crime.
FBI SOLVES ‘COLONIAL PARKWAY’ MURDER THANKS TO NEW TECHNOLOGY, BUREAU SAYS
Carmen Van Huss, 19, was raped and stabbed to death in her Indianapolis apartment in 1993. (FOX 59)
Shepherd was arrested in August 2024 in Columbia, Missouri, and after being extradited to Indianapolis, was due to stand trial next week until a plea deal was entered on Tuesday, in which Shepherd pleaded guilty to murder. Additional charges were dropped.
FOX 59 reported that Shepherd had a criminal history in Indiana prior to the murder, including charges of battery and public intoxication. After 1993, he was again charged in Missouri with theft, disturbing the peace and driving without a license.
The Van Huss family released a statement in response to the sentence.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
Dana Shepherd was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the rape and murder of Carmen Van Huss, 19, in 1993.
“Although this decision was not our first decision, we are grateful that after 33 years the man who brutally raped and killed Carmen was finally charged,” said the family.
“For decades, the perpetrator was able to live a normal life after taking that quickly from Carmen and our family. Nothing can undo that loss or erase the injustice of his living so freely for so long, but we are thankful that the truth has finally come out and that he has not escaped justice.”
