An Indiana man, aged 53, has been sentenced to serve several decades behind bars for the brutal murder of his neighbor, a crime that shocked the community. Dana Jermaine Shepherd was found guilty of fatally stabbing 19-year-old Carmen Van Huss 61 times in her home, leaving the scene for her father to tragically discover her body.

On Friday, Marion County Superior Judge James K. Snyder handed down a 45-year prison sentence to Shepherd for the 1993 murder, according to court documents. This decision follows an extensive investigation that spanned nearly three decades.

“Though no amount of time can ever mend the profound loss experienced by Carmen’s family, we are thankful to have secured a murder conviction over 30 years after this atrocious act,” stated Prosecutor Ryan Mears after the sentencing, as reported by WTHR, an NBC affiliate in Indianapolis. “We hope this outcome provides some measure of justice and peace to her family, who have waited so long for closure.”

Last month, Shepherd entered a plea agreement with prosecutors, admitting guilt to a single count of murder. In exchange, the prosecution agreed to drop additional charges, including rape with a weapon and the use of deadly force.

On March 22, 1993, Van Huss had visited her grandmother in the hospital before returning her father and 3-year-old brother to their home in Indianapolis. She then proceeded to her apartment located in the 8200 block of Harcourt Road, as reported by the Indianapolis Star.

According to witness accounts, around 11:30 p.m. that evening, neighbors overheard Van Huss conversing and laughing with an unidentified man in her apartment. However, approximately two hours later, a neighbor recalled hearing Van Huss scream, “Get off me!” followed by the sound of hurried footsteps exiting the apartment.

The following day, Van Huss’ manager at a local Pizza Hut called her father after several unsuccessful attempts to contact her. When her father was also unable to contact Van Huss, he went to her apartment and made the grisly discovery.

Deputies with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home and reportedly found Van Huss lying naked on the floor of her bedroom in a large pool of blood from dozens of stab wounds to her face, head, and body. There were also signs of a struggle, including clothes and other objects strewn about the home and furniture knocked over.

A subsequent autopsy determined that Van Huss suffered a total of 61 stab wounds and concluded that the manner of death was a homicide.

The victim’s brother, Jimmy Van Huss, previously told local Fox affiliate WXIN that his sister’s murder was particularly heinous.

“We hope after all this time people understand how violent my sister’s murder was,” Jimmy Van Huss told the station in 2024. “She was raped and stabbed over 60 times. My dad had to see that, blood everywhere, his daughter naked, lying there. He had to see that. That changed him forever.”

DNA evidence from the scene was collected at the time, but it was not until an analysis company in 2023 identified Shepherd as a possible person of interest in the case that the case was able to move forward, the Star reported. Detectives soon learned that a then-21-year-old Shepherd lived in the same building as Van Huss at the time of the murder.

Shepherd was reportedly working as a janitor in Columbia, Missouri, in 2024 when detectives obtained a DNA sample from him. The sample was tested against the DNA from the scene and came back as a match. He was taken into custody in Missouri in August 2024 and extradited back to Indiana about three months later.

The Van Huss family released a statement to WXIN following Friday’s hearing.

“While this plea deal was not our first choice, we are grateful that after 33 years the man responsible for Carmen’s brutal rape and murder is finally being held accountable,” the family said. “For decades, the perpetrator was able to live a normal life after taking that right away from Carmen and from our family. Nothing can undo that loss or erase the injustice of him living freely for so long, but we are thankful that the truth has finally come to light and that he has not escaped justice.”