Man sentenced to 60 years in 2017 fatal shooting outside wake
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 44-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison in a September 2017 murder outside a wake.
A jury found Jeffery Buckley guilty in the murder of 39-year-old Kirk Jeffrey-Lee Shurill Jr.
A crowd was in the parking lot of Persian Temple No. 46, 1802 E. 23rd St., on the afternoon of Sept. 30, 2017, after a dinner held to honor 40-year-old Keith Williams, who had been found shot several times about 10 days earlier in his home in the 1000 block of Grant Avenue. Witnesses said Shurill was driving in the parking lot and “began to burn out the tires of the car, creating a large cloud of smoke,” the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said.
People approached Shurill’s car to ask him to stop; then Buckley walked up to the car, leaned inside and fired, causing Shurill to crash into a parked car, the prosecutor’s office said. Police found Shurill with multiple gunshot wounds as he sat in the driver’s seat.
An autopsy determined Shurill sustained over 40 defects to his body. The cause of death was ruled to be multiple gunshot wounds, the prosecutor’s office said.
Buckley was charged Oct. 18 with murder. He was arrested in April 2018 after a monthslong search by authorities.
“Buckley used various sophisticated techniques to avoid apprehension including fake ID’s, changing his appearance and changing phones,” said an IMPD news release issued when Buckley was arrested. “He had traveled from Indianapolis to various states including California, Missouri, Kentucky and New Orleans before returning to Indianapolis. He was arrested with over a pound of marijuana and a firearm in his possession.”
Buckley remained in the Marion County Jail on Thursday night, online records show.
