Murder charge dropped against suspect in 13-year-old’s death

A Marion County judge has dismissed a murder charge against a teenager accused of killing a 13-year-old boy, days before the teen’s jury trial was scheduled to begin.

Prosecutors cited evidentiary problems with the case in their Aug. 26 request to drop the charge against Dino Thompson III. Documents indicate at least one of the problems was Thompson’s girlfriend, a key witness who never showed up for court.

Thompson was 17 when he was charged in February with the murder of Ashton Harting. Harting was shot in the back Jan. 19, while he and some friends were wandering a neighborhood near East 38th Street, knocking over trash cans, those friends told police.

Detectives began investigating Thompson, who was on home detention at the time of the shooting, after an anonymous tip directed them to his house on East 37th Place, close to where spent shell casings and a bullet were recovered.

Thompson, now 18, told police he saw an SUV crash into the trash cans outside his home the night of the killing, but failed to catch the vehicle’s license plate number. He later heard several gunshots, he told police.

Thompson’s girlfriend, however, contradicted his account. She told police her boyfriend had asked her to lie about what happened the night Harting was killed, according to court documents.

According to the affidavit, she told police that she heard trash cans being knocked over that night and saw her boyfriend take a silver handgun from his bedroom dresser and leave the house with a friend. She then heard about three or four gunshots, she told police. Police later found an empty gun holster in Thompson’s house.

Prosecutors listed his girlfriend as a witness in the case against Thompson, according to court documents, but couldn’t find her.

Officials made more than a dozen attempts to track her down before the trial, court documents show. They went to five different addresses, mailed subpoenas and left notices on doorsteps — all to no avail. The state also obtained a court order to take her into custody as a witness, but that was not successful because she could not be located.

Documents filed by prosecutors also allege that she had been in contact with Thompson while he was awaiting trial, a violation of an order to have no contact with witnesses. According to that document, Thompson and his girlfriend talked on the phone for more than 50 times while he was in jail.

In several calls, documents say, Thompson implied that the witness should “help (him) out.”

Jalen Vaughn, Ashton’s cousin, said he hopes the dropped charge doesn’t mean the case will be forgotten.

“The right person and the right amount of evidence will come to light,” said Vaughn, 17.

Difficult witnesses aren’t uncommon in such cases. Last year, a murder charge against the man accused of gunning down a 16-year-old boy during Fourth of July celebrations in 2013 was also dropped, with prosecutors citing “uncooperative witnesses” as a main factor.

The murder case also is not the first time a no-show witness has complicated allegations against Thompson. In January 2013, several firearms violations were filed against Thompson in juvenile court, after he was accused of shooting at a woman’s car. The case was dismissed when the victim failed to appear in court.

Several public defenders associated with Thompson did not return calls requesting comment Thursday.

Thompson, who has been held in jail since his arrest in January, could remain there because of an unrelated case.

Prosecutors say Thompson has violated the probation and community corrections orders attached to a 2013 robbery case, in which Thompson pleaded guilty to beating a boy unconscious and stealing his headphones and cellphone. Documents say he violated release conditions by failing to follow GPS monitoring orders or pay home detention fees.

A hearing on those allegations was scheduled for Friday morning, but court staff confirmed it was postponed. Thompson will appear in court on Oct. 9.

It’s unclear how much more jail time Thompson could face. The deputy prosecutor handling Thompson’s case was unavailable.

Star reporter Robert King contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @ jdisis.