Evansville teen gets 45-year prison sentence for 2021 murder

An Evansville teen charged in a 2021 murder was sentenced to more than four decades in prison on Thursday.

Court officials say Arkee Coleman was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Thursday in connection to the 2021 shooting of Jonathan Stitts.

As we first reported, Coleman took a plea deal in the case, pleading guilty to the charge of murder. In exchange for that guilty plea, a felony firearm enhancement that Coleman would have faced additional prison time for was dismissed.

Another teen who was charged in the Stitts’ death, Samajui Barnes, was previously sentenced to 65 years behind bars after going to trial – 55 years for murder and an additional 10 years for a firearm enhancement.

Coleman was just 15 at the time of his 2021 arrest.

He will serve out his sentence at the Indiana Department of Correction.

Source