From a Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp press release with information from Batesville Police Chief Stan Holt
A Franklin County man was shot dead on Labor Day morning in a Batesville apartment.
Police have identified the deceased as Benny Flannery, 46.
According to a press release from Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp, Batesville Police Department received a 911 call around 8 a.m., Labor Day morning from an apartment at Canterbury Apartments on Arlington Drive. The call was about a domestic violence incident.
Upon arriving on the scene, they discovered Flannery’s body with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Batesville Police Chief Stan Holt reported the indications are Flannery was shot by a juvenile resident at the apartment. It is alleged Flannery was committing a violent act to the juvenile’s mother while armed with a knife.
Holt said witnesses at the scene, including the juvenile who is alleged to have filed the fatal shot, have been cooperative with investigators.
Holt talked with Huerkamp and they agreed, because of the strong initial evidence of the justifiable use of deadly force, neither the juvenile nor his mother should be further detained or placed under formal arrest at this time. And although no one is currently in custody as a result of the shooting, Huerkamp said he will make a final determination on whether or not his office pursues criminal charges upon the completion of the investigation.
Huerkamp, within his press release, put the Indiana Code for self defense — stand your ground, which is IC 35-41-3-2(c), “a person: (1) is justified in using deadly force; and (2) does not have a duty to retreat, if that person reasonably believes that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony.”
According to Huerkamp, the investigation is ongoing.
“I am fully confident that Chief Holt and the Batesville Police Department will conduct a thorough investigation and uncover the truth of how this occurred,” Huerkamp stated in the press release.