Jesse McCartney acquitted in Pittman's death

Aug. 11—It took a jury just a little under 90 minutes Friday evening to acquit 36-year-old Jesse McCartney for the February 2013 death of 21-year-old Destiny Pittman.

McCartney had been facing two counts of felony murder, robbery resulting in bodily injury, burglary resulting in bodily injury and conspiracy to commit burglary, all Class A felonies, as well as a Class B felony count of burglary, per online court records.

On Friday, he was not guilty on all counts.

His co-defendant and brother, 32-year-old Joey McCartney, is facing the same charges and is expected to go to jury trial next week.

Jesse openly appeared to weep as the verdict was read Friday evening, as did several of Pittman's family and loved ones in the gallery just a few feet away.

And afterward, Jesse's attorney Jeffrey Elftman briefly spoke to the Tribune regarding the outcome.

"It was a tragedy," he said, referring to the Feb. 7, 2013, shooting death of 21-year-old Pittman at her residence on James Drive. "I hope they find the real killer."

Howard County Deputy Prosecutor Thomas White Jr. also told the Tribune that he couldn't comment on the case, though he did note the prosecution will have to "regroup" for next week's trial of Joey McCartney.

The day began early Friday morning, with the prosecution airing an audio of a phone call that took place between Jesse and his father while Jesse was at the Howard County Jail.

During that phone call, Jesse was heard telling his father numerous times that the police investigation into his arrest would not turn up any viable evidence pointing toward his guilt.

"It'll come to light," Jesse said. "They know they don't have nothing. It is what it is. Time will tell."

And after the state rested Friday morning, it was then the defense's turn to call witnesses and bring forth evidence.

One of those witnesses was former KPD Det. Launa Hunt, now an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

On Friday, Hunt stated she was one of the lead investigators on the case in 2013, conducting several interviews and developing several potential suspects during her time in that role.

Hunt added that cell phone records obtained from those potential suspects — who she testified were connected to James Franklin, who was Pittman's then-boyfriend who also lived at the residence where she was shot, via drugs — appeared to put them in the vicinity of James Drive during the same timeframe Pittman was killed.

However, Hunt noted, those individuals eventually were ruled out as possible suspects in the case after her departure from KPD in 2014.

Hunt also testified that neither Jesse nor Joey McCartney's names were brought up as potential suspects during her time on the case.

The defense also called on the testimony of Indiana State Police Sgt. Rafael Perez, who works as a firearms examiner in ISP's forensics laboratory.

Perez told the court that he was asked to examine a .40 caliber shell casing and expended bullet found at the scene of the shooting, and he testified that investigators were provided two firearms in relation to the case.

However, testing done on the shell casing and bullet excluded those firearms, Perez testified, adding that he didn't believe those two items came from a Glock .40 caliber firearm at all.

That last piece of testimony was in reaction to the prosecution's arguments that Jesse owned and sold multiple firearms around the same time Pittman was killed, including several Glock .40 calibers.

In the end, it was that reported lack of a viable firearm in the case, as well as lack of DNA, fingerprints, cell phone records and eyewitness testimony other than Jesse's then-girlfriend, that the defense argued made their case strong.

"This case does need to be solved," Elftman said during his closing arguments. "But first Mr. McCartney needs to clear his name. ... We're doing everything we can to show you that somebody else could have and probably did commit this crime."