KOKOMO, Ind. — Court documents reveal the break that led to two brothers being arrested in a cold case murder in Kokomo.
Destiny Pittman, 21, was found shot to death Feb. 7, 2013, on James Drive in Kokomo.
Kokomo Police Department officers and U.S. Marshals arrested 32-year-old Joey McCartney in Graham, Kentucky and 36-year-old Jesse McCartney at a Kokomo home.
Both men are charged with murder and burglary, with Jesse McCartney facing additional charges for possession of cocaine and marijuana.
According to court documents, on the day of the killing, there was a loud banging on the door of the home Pittman shared with two others. Witnesses in the home said the door was then kicked in. When Pittman went out to confront the intruders, she was shot in the chest.
Court documents then claim the intruders were searching the home, which police believe was for drugs that Pittman and a man living in the home were selling.
Investigators said there were no significant leads in the case for nearly a decade.
Then, in December 2022, a woman called police and asked to speak to a detective. She told investigators that she "thought we would have solved the case another way by now," police claim in court documents.
The woman told police she couldn't keep this to herself anymore after repeatedly seeing press releases on the case over the years.
She told investigators that Jesse McCartney and her drove to Pittman's home the day of the killing. She said Jesse told her to stay in the car and then went up to the home. The woman said she believed it was Joey who then ran up to the house and joined Jesse as they went inside.
The woman claims she heard a loud bang and then Jesse and Joey ran out of the house. In court documents, the woman claims Jesse was carrying a bag of marijuana and a handful of money.
She alleges she and Jesse drove back to Jesse's apartment and then Joey joined them. She said Jesse then made her drive back by the home the next day, but there was police tape up.
In court documents, the woman said Jesse sold his Jeep and gun six months later.
The woman told investigators she waited all these years to tell what happened because she "was scared and still is."
Jesse had his initial hearing March 9 and entered a not guilty plea. The judge ordered him held with no bond and set a trial date for August. Joey had his initial hearing on March 10. A judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and ordered him held without bond.
Anyone with additional information on the incident is asked to call the Kokomo Police Department at 765-456-7017.