TERRE HAUTE —
A Posey County man sentenced to 75 years in prison for a 1998 convenience story murder will get a second chance at being a productive citizen come Monday.
Erick S. Schmitt, 33, will be released next week from the Indiana Department of Correction because of a sentence modification granted Thursday by Senior Judge Michael Eldred in Vigo Superiour Court 1.
He will be placed on home detention with electronic monitoring through the Posey County Community Corrections program for the balance of his sentence, which has a prison release date in September 2016. He must also serve 10 years on probation and submit to drug screens.
The case was originally tried in Vigo County after being venued from Vanderburgh County, where it was filed as a death penalty case.
Schmitt was 19 at the time that he and two other teenagers robbed an Evansville convenience store, killing a clerk and wounding a customer. Schmitt stated that he was high on drugs at the time of the shooting.
During his time at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Schmitt completed every educational program available to him, as well as drug programs, and maintained a clean conduct record. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in human services, and had earned maximum credit time permitted by the Department of Correction’s classificaton program.
A letter from his victim’s widow also supported Schmitt’s placement in home detention. Ina Simpson said in the letter that she has forgiven Schmitt for the shooting death of her husband, Charlie, and that she has visited Schmitt in prison many times and found him to be a Christian man who deserves a chance to help young people avoid drugs.
Another teen convicted in the shooting and robbery, Ryan Specht, has a prison release date in June 2017. The third defendant, Michelle Evans, was released from prison in June 2009.
Reporter Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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