Muncie man pleads guilty - but mentally ill - in Walmart slaying

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man who fatally shot a stranger outside the northside Walmart store pleaded guilty — but mentally ill — to murder on Monday.

Tyler Christopher Abrams, 33, had been scheduled to stand trial this week on charges stemming from the July 2022 slaying of 34-year-old Samuel L. Gillum of Eaton.

Muncie police said Abrams shot Gillum without provocation — there were no indications the two men had any prior contact — in the parking lot of the Walmart store at 4801 W. Clara Lane.

A surveillance video showed Abrams approaching the victim, who was walking with his wife and pushing a cart after shopping in the store. Gillum, shot in the head, was taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Abrams fled from the store parking lot, but was apprehended less than 30 minutes later along North Nebo Road.

Defense attorney John Quirk had indicated he would pursue an insanity defense for his client, and Abrams at one point was ruled incompetent to stand trial.

In a document filed last week, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig maintained that "simply because a defendant's crimes have no motive does not mean that he must have been insane."

In court on Monday, Abrams told Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. that he understood the charges against him and the consequences of entering a guilty plea.

In addition to pleading guilty to murder — which carries a prison term of 45 to 65 years — Abrams also acknowledged using a firearm in committing the crime, which could add up to 20 years to any sentence the Muncie man receives.

The plea agreement calls for dismissal of three other charges pending against Abrams — criminal recklessness, obstruction of justice and pointing a firearm. It places no limit on the length of the sentence to be imposed by the judge.

Cannon took the deal under advisement and tentatively set sentencing for July 25.

The “mentally ill” provision of the his guilty plea means that Abrams could receive treatment while incarcerated.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man pleads guilty, mentally ill, in Walmart shooting death