Family calls Chatterbox death an 'unprovoked attack'

Carmel High School football coach John Hebert recalls the eyes of Michael Lanter, then in eighth grade, lighting up with excitement when the coach called the boy's favorite play during a school football game.

The middle school running back mastered a counter play, taking the ball in a handoff and running swiftly in the opposite direction of the rest of the players.

Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't, Hebert said. But he remembers the enthusiasm with which Lanter ran the ball.

"He was quick and tough and ran hard," said Hebert, who coached Lanter in middle school and in high school.

Family and friends are grieving the death of 31-year-old Lanter, who was killed Saturday after a confrontation in a Downtown bar.

His family has described the incident as an "unprovoked attack."

In a statement released by their attorney, the family asked for privacy as they grieve Lanter, an investment consultant who was a graduate of Carmel High School and Indiana University. He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Police said Lanter struck his head at Chatterbox Jazz Club at 435 Massachusetts Ave. Friday night following some sort of scuffle with another man. Investigators have not shed further light on the nature of the confrontation while the investigation continues.

They have interviewed the man involved in the incident, as well as witnesses at the bar.

But an autopsy conducted Monday was inconclusive, leaving the case in limbo for six to eight weeks until toxicology reports are available to help point to a cause and manner of death and help determine whether criminal or civil action is appropriate.

Indianapolis attorney Ron Elberger, who is representing the family, said talking about any potential civil litigation or possible criminal charges is premature.

"Right now it's a matter of getting the trauma of the moment behind them," Elberger said.

Police have said it is too early to decide whether to make an arrest in the case without the full autopsy results.

"Fights do happen all the time, but these incidents being fatal are rare," Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer Chris Wilburn told The Indianapolis Star on Monday. "Unfortunately, the victim in this incident suffered a fatal blow."

At least two other fatal bar fistfights led to criminal charges in Indiana in recent years.

In one case, a Rochester man was punched in the head by a drunk bar patron in Fulton County last May, court documents say.

Tony Coleman, 38, fell to the ground and never got up, witnesses told police.

Fulton County Prosecutor Rick Brown charged the alleged attacker with involuntary manslaughter, a class C felony, and aggravated battery, a class B felony. The case is pending.

The aggravated battery charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and the involuntary manslaughter a maximum of eight years.

"There's no evidence the guy intended to kill him," Brown said, noting intent is needed to prove murder.

The lesser involuntary manslaughter stipulates that someone is killed during the commission of a felony or misdemeanor that could cause serious bodily injury, like assault.

Prosecutors will generally use an involuntary manslaughter charge in cases in which someone dies as a result of criminal negligence or recklessness, said Indiana University law Professor Lahny R. Silva. A murder charge, on the other hand, requires an intent to kill.

In a fatality that stems from a thrown punch, for example, attorneys may look at whether the fatality could be foreseen, Silva said.

"Maybe the perpetrator should have foreseen something like this could happen," Silva said. "Is there a risk that if you got into a fight at a bar, a person might hit their head?"

In another case, Dubois County prosecutors in 2013 charged two men, Leslie M. Osborn Jr., 24, and Zachary D. Parks, 23, with class C felony counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fatal punch, the Dubois County Herald reported.

Prosecutors accused Osborn and Parks of punching Timothy Stafford, 41, when the man tried to intervene in a bar fight in Jasper. Stafford died from injuries from the hit.

Osborn and Parks in October pleaded guilty to class D felony counts of criminal recklessness, the Dubois County Herald reported.

A judge sentenced the men to three years. Parks will serve the time in a work release facility, and Osborn is on probation.

Lanter's family is holding funeral services on Thursday. In lieu of flowers, they have asked people to donate to the Michael Lanter Memorial Fund at the Carmel Football Alumni Club.

Lanter worked as a trader at Goldman Sachs in New York before receiving his MBA and starting his own consulting company, his family said.

Hebert, who has coached Lanter since he was about 12 years old, said he is still grappling with the loss of a man who he said was an excellent student and a team leader.

"It's really hard to lose someone that had as much spirit as he did," Hebert said. "To see his life cut short is just really difficult."

Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.