Update 10/13/2008 – Break in the case with three arrests. Luther Bonds, 26, Jerry Williams and Steven Brown, both 24 years old. Bonds told police he was Tate’s boyfriend. More info at bottom of article.
Luther Bonds, Jerry Williams, Steven Brown
At Dreamin’ Demon, sometimes we get a story that hits close to home because it involves one of our own. This is such a case. Our member Zibarro emailed us with this story today, and much of the information comes from her. Words really don’t express our sadness for Zibarro and her family – you are in our thoughts. Thank you for sharing Brittany’s story with us. – Imp and Morbid
http://www.myspace.com/lil_britt_20_0206
Indianapolis, IN - On Friday evening, just before 6:00, a man and his son were fishing on the White River just off 10th Street in Indianapolis. They saw what they thought was a mannequin, clad only in underwear, floating just offshore. On closer inspection, though, the mannequin turned out to be the body of a young woman – and she’d been in the water for awhile. Today, that body was identified as Brittany Tate, 21. She’d been murdered and dumped in the river.
Brittany was a cute redhead with stunning blue eyes. She had a number of tattoos, many of which were applied or touched up by her cousin Bryan. Those tattoos, along with her fingerprints, helped to identify her body. Cause of death has not yet been released – police will say only that she was a victim of homicide. Brittany was found only in her panties, and some of her personal effects were found scattered along the shore.
Brittany’s family tells me that she was a sweet, sometimes gullible girl who got caught up in a romantic relationship that might not have been good for her. Certainly after getting involved with her boyfriend, Brittany quickly got a criminal record to go with her new man, and ended up doing prison time for nonviolent offenses like fraud and theft.
But recently, Brittany seemed to be getting her life together. She had gotten out of prison, gone home, and had recently bought a car. But something clearly wasn’t right. A witness reported seeing a girl matching Brittany’s description standing outside a car like Brittany’s sometime in the last week or so. The witness said that Brittany appeared to be arguing with a man next to the 10th Street river entrance – just where Brittany’s body was found on Friday. The car has not been recovered, and the man who was seen arguing with Brittany has not been located.
As of today, there are still more questions than answers. We know that Brittany Tate was likely murdered. We don’t know how, or when, or by whom. All we really know, now, is that Brittany Tate is gone, leaving behind her family and friends. I’ll keep this article updated as information comes in.
Update 10/13/2008 - Bonds told detectives that he, Williams, Brown and Tate were riding in a car together and that Williams was messing with a gun in the rear driver seat. Tate, the passenger, told Williams not to play with the gun and WIlliams replied by shooting her in the head. The three then took Brittany’s body to the White River and dumped her in.
Tags: body found, Indiana, Indianapolis, Murder
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