DEKALB, Ind. (WANE) – A 43-year-old man accused of taking part in an Auburn home invasion that left two of his cohorts dead will likely serve two years behind bars, according to a plea agreement filed in DeKalb Superior Court.
Shaun Kruse, of Columbia City, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of assisting in burglary in connection with the killings, which happened when he and three other people tried to break into a home near the Walmart Distribution Center on Auburn’s far west side last May.
As part of his plea, DeKalb County prosecutors agreed to drop two counts of murder they levied against Kruse if the agreement is accepted by a judge at his sentencing later this summer.
Tabitha Johnson, a 43-year-old woman also implicated in the deadly burglary, received a 14-year prison sentence for her role in the killings earlier this week.
According to investigators, Kruse, Johnson and two others went to the home, located at 1650 S.R. 8, on May 14, 2022 and tried to pressure the homeowner into giving them money.
Early the following morning, they went to the home with intentions to rob the homeowner, court documents said.
Johnson had stayed at the home with the homeowner off and on for roughly a decade, according to court documents, and may have told the others involved about what was inside the house they could steal.
The homeowner, who has not been publicly identified, woke that morning to his dog barking and people in his living room.
Those people, later identified as Johnson along with 22-year-old Dylan S. Morefield and 36-year-old Rameica Moore, were stealing items from the home and pointing a gun at the homeowner, the homeowner told police in court documents.
They also demanded he write them a check, the homeowner told investigators.
When the homeowner saw his chance, he grabbed a shotgun he kept next to his couch and shot Morefield and Moore, killing them both, court documents said.
He then led Johnson outside at gunpoint, where Kruse waited in a vehicle. The homeowner then ordered Kruse to call 911, which he did. Police arrived shortly thereafter, and Johnson and Kruse were taken into custody.
The homeowner was never charged in the deaths of Moore and Morefield.
Kruse and Johnson, though, were.
Johnson, like Kruse, was initially charged with two counts of murder as well as a count of burglary. Earlier this year, she reached a deal with prosecutors who agreed to recommend her prison sentence be capped at 20 years if she pleaded guilty to a count of burglary.
The murder charges against her would be dropped as part of the deal.
A DeKalb Superior Judge sentenced Johnson to 16 years this past Monday but suspended two of those years.
Kruse’s deal calls for him to be sentenced to four years but to serve only two, while the other two are to be served on probation. He will also be ordered to take part in a substance abuse program.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced June 12.
