A Marion County jury today, found 25-year-old Zachariah Meehan guilty of murder in the March 28, 2023, shooting death of his neighbor, 64-year-old Thomas Baughman. The fatal encounter on Indianapolis’s east side has resurfaced worries about how simmering tensions between neighbors can spiral into gunfire. Jurors returned the verdict after a short trial that prosecutors say made clear the shooting was not lawful self-defense.
Verdict and what prosecutors say
The jury convicted Meehan after a two-day trial, with prosecutors arguing he fired the fatal shot, according to WTHR. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears told WTHR that Meehan tried to cast the shooting as an act of self-defense driven by fear, but that the evidence pointed in a very different direction.
According to the outlet, Meehan told detectives he believed Baughman might have reached toward his waistband and later admitted he “pulled the trigger.” Investigators did not locate a gun on or near Baughman. Court records cited by the station show Meehan is scheduled for sentencing on April 14, 2026, and that prosecutors secured a habitual-offender enhancement during the case.
Scene and early response
The shooting happened around 6 p.m. on March 28, 2023, on Orion Avenue near Emerson Avenue and Brookville Road, where officers reported finding Baughman in a front yard before rushing him to a hospital, according to WRTV. Officers initially instructed Meehan to come out of his home. When he refused, IMPD called in a SWAT team for what turned into a brief standoff that ended when Meehan and a companion exited without further incident. Neighbors at the time described a tense evening and uncertainty over what sparked the confrontation.
What’s next
Meehan is set to be sentenced on April 14, when a judge will decide his prison term after weighing the habitual-offender finding prosecutors obtained at trial. With the guilty verdict in hand, the focus now shifts from whether Meehan pulled the trigger to how severe his punishment will be.
