An Indiana man will spend the next seven decades in prison after being convicted of murdering his mother inside a vacant home in Evansville.
On Tuesday morning, Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Judge Ryan D. Hatfield sentenced 30-year-old Jaron Wells to 70 years behind bars. The punishment followed his conviction on one count of murder in July and his guilty plea to a firearm enhancement charge, according to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office. Wells will also be required to register as a violent offender if he is ever released.
Prosecutors said Wells faced between 45 and 65 years for the murder, with an additional 5 to 20 years for the firearm enhancement, before the court handed down the maximum combined sentence.
On July 8, 2023, Wells fatally shot his mother, 45-year-old Shanay Michelle Hunt, in the head with a “very particular and seldomly used type of ammunition.” Investigators later identified the bullet as a .45 GAP (Glock Auto Pistol) round, a rare type of ammunition that proved to be a crucial piece of evidence.
The murder occurred inside a vacant house on Harriet Street in Evansville and went undiscovered for over a week.
It wasn’t until July 14, 2023, that a man returning to the abandoned property noticed a “foul odor” coming from the back of the home. The affidavit of probable cause revealed chilling details:
“He stated that he opened the window on the back side of the home and went inside. As he walked in, he observed the deceased lying on a mattress covered in maggots. He stated that he felt unwell and ran out of the home. He did not have a phone so he went across the street to Aurora [which assists the homeless population] to have the employees call authorities.”
Officers confirmed Hunt’s body had been decomposing “for some time.”
Investigators later revealed that Hunt, who had no permanent residence, frequently squatted in abandoned houses across Evansville.
Weeks after Hunt’s body was found, Wells unfriended his mother on Facebook the same day local news identified her by name. Surveillance footage and witness accounts soon tied Wells to his mother’s final hours.
A gas station employee recalled often seeing Hunt with Wells shortly before her death. Police also uncovered records showing that Wells had purchased a Glock pistol and the same rare ammunition used in the killing just weeks before the murder.
One of Wells’s former girlfriends told investigators she ended their relationship because of the “weird” relationship between Wells and his mother. Meanwhile, one of Hunt’s close friends said the victim told her during a heated argument with Wells that “she would be okay and would call her again later.” That call never came.
Authorities tracked Wells to Harrisburg, Illinois, roughly 60 miles west of Evansville, where he was arrested in September 2023. During the search of his residence, investigators uncovered what prosecutors later described as a devastating handwritten note.
“[Police] discovered in the home where he was staying a note in a small, blue notebook that describes him having done something on a Saturday that has left him without a living parent and that will leave his sister devastated and disgusted with him,” prosecutors stated.
The note, which included the victim’s daughter’s name, matched Wells’s handwriting and specifically mentioned July 8, 2023 — the day of the murder.
Despite overwhelming evidence, the first jury failed to reach a unanimous decision, with only 11 out of 12 jurors voting to convict. Prosecutors immediately pursued a retrial.
During the summer retrial, jurors were presented with extensive medical forensic evidence, surveillance video, expert firearms analysis, handwriting comparison, and testimony from family and friends. This time, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office called the conviction and sentencing a result of meticulous investigative work and the resilience of Hunt’s family.
Wells, now sentenced to 70 years in the Indiana Department of Correction, is unlikely to ever walk free again.
