Inset: Jeremy Hinson (Madison County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Forrestville Cemetery in Indiana (Google Maps).
A 49-year-old man from Indiana is destined to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his wife. He fatally shot the 47-year-old woman inside a car at a cemetery last year.
On Tuesday, Madison County Circuit Judge David A. Happe sentenced Jeremy Hinson to 75 years in state prison for the murder of Michela Hinson, as announced by authorities.
This sentence follows a jury’s finding of Hinson guilty of murder along with a felony firearm enhancement. Specifically, Judge Happe handed down a 55-year sentence for the murder and tacked on an additional 20 years for the firearm enhancement, to be served consecutively, according to a news release from the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, deputies from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office responded around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, to a report of a “suspicious vehicle” at the Forrestville Cemetery on the 1600 block of South North Street, approximately 65 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
A 911 caller informed the sheriff’s emergency dispatcher of spotting a dark SUV in the cemetery parking lot, with two individuals inside, “an adult male and an adult female,” as reported by Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR. The caller approached the car and knocked on the window, but found both passengers unresponsive to their presence.
First responders reportedly found Michela Hinson in the driver’s seat. She was dead from several apparent gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach.
Initially appearing unresponsive, Jeremy Hinson woke up and got out of the vehicle, according to police. He was discovered with a handgun in his waistband before being transported to Community Hospital Anderson for treatment, possibly due to a drug overdose, as reported by the local newspaper The Herald Bulletin. reported.
Police noted there was blood spatter on Jeremy Hinson’s face, arms, hands and feet.
Authorities executed a search warrant on Jeremy Hinson’s vehicle, where they discovered five bullet holes in the cushion of the driver’s seat where the victim was found. Five bullet casings were also found inside the vehicle, along with a loaded 9 mm handgun and a second magazine.
During Jeremy Hinson’s subsequent incarceration, he reportedly confessed to killing his wife during a recorded conversation with a family member.
“I feel most bad for the boys in this situation,” Jeremy Hinson reportedly said. “Obviously I wasn’t thinking right. I don’t know what happened to make me do that, but tell them I love them.”
Indianapolis radio station WIBC reported that Michela Hinson was a mother of two boys and worked as a school bus driver for the City of Anderson Transit System.
