A jury on Friday found a Lafayette, Indiana woman guilty on all charges in the August 2020 shooting that killed a pizza delivery driver.
The jury delivered the verdict after about two hours of deliberation in 18-year-old Jaelynn Billup’s murder trial.
On the last day of the four-day trial, a sense of restlessness filled the courtroom as family and friends held hands and consoled each other in anticipation of the verdict.
Family members on both sides were tearful as the jury returned guilty verdicts on nine counts, including murder, felony murder and armed robbery.
Billups flipped off the camera with both hands as she left the courtroom while family members said, “I love you” and “Call me.”
She was convicted today of plotting to rob a Dominos delivery driver with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Alberto Vanmeter.
But things went wrong when the driver, 37-year-old Joshua Ungersma, shot and killed Vanmeter in self-defense.
That’s when witnesses say Billups shot and killed Ungersma, execution-style, in the middle of North 16th Street.
Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington hopes the verdict brings Ungersma’s family closure.
“First off, a man was simply delivering a pizza trying to support his family,” Harrington says. “He had a newborn child at home. And for the price of 10 dollar pizza, he lost his life.”
Both sides also made closing arguments Friday.
Prosecutors said Billups’ testimony on Thursday was carefully tailored to fit the evidence, pointing out many of her statements didn’t add up.
The defense argued what appeared to be a robbery was a delivery gone horribly wrong, insisting a terrified Billups shot Ungersma in self-defense.
“The evidence was overwhelming in this case as I think a lot of people in the courtroom heard,” Harrington says, “but even with that, there’s no winners here in a tragedy where a person’s life was taken.”
A sentencing hearing is set for December 3 at 1:30 p.m.
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