CROWN POINT, Ind.
(AP) - A northwest Indiana prosecutor has notified the court he plans to
seek the death penalty for a man charged with murder in the shooting death
of a Gary police officer.
The Times of
Munster and the Post-Tribune of Merrillville report an amended information
was filed Tuesday against 26-year-old Carl Blount of Gary, adding a death
sentence request in the death of 47-year-old Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield.
Court records show
Blount is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Wednesday. He
previously was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty. He is being held
at Lake County Jail without bail.
Westerfield was
shot while sitting in his patrol car early on July 6 while searching for
Blount. Court records state he was shot at close range with a handgun stolen
in Indianapolis.