Evansville man sentenced to 51 years in connection to April 2019 shooting

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - An Evansville man received a 51-year prison sentence on Thursday following a years-long legal battle in connection to a deadly shooting that occurred in April 2019.

Brothers Bobby and Ikeem Minor were shot on East Virginia Street during that incident. Bobby died, while Ikeem suffered serious injuries but survived.

Elijah Parchman was sentenced after a jury found him guilty of murder and attempted murder in 2020, which was then overturned by the Vanderburgh County Circuit Court.

“One of the witnesses for the state, who was the victim who was still alive and testified, had a juvenile record that wasn’t disclosed to the other side,” said Diana Moers, the Vanderburgh County prosecutor.

Ikeem Minor, the surviving victim, had a “juvenile delinquency adjudication” in 2008. That wasn’t disclosed during the original trial, so an appeal was filed requesting a new trial.

Moers says filing an appeal on that was a technicality, but says the appeals process is essential for the justice system.

The state appealed the court’s decision to overturn the verdict, and the Indiana Court of Appeals sent the case back to Vanderburgh County for sentencing in December 2022.

“The Court of Appeals held that the jury verdict was valid, the trial was fair and it should proceed to sentencing,” Moers said.

Moers says it’s rare to see three years pass between a verdict and a sentencing, but the appeal and the COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down.

During the initial guilty verdict in 2020, Parchman was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and a firearm enhancement.

He has been held in the Vanderburgh County Jail since the murder in April 2019. He will be credited with nearly four years of times served in his 51-year sentence.

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