--- description: The so-called 'Elkhart Four' were convicted under a little-used 'felony murder' law title: Why These Indiana Teenagers Were Convicted of Murder Without Killing Anyone image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why These Indiana Teenagers Were Convicted of Murder Without Killing Anyone by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2015 8:02 PM CUT by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2015 8:02 PM CUT The Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments on Thursday whether to hear a case involving three unarmed teenagers who were convicted of murder despite the fact that none of them actually killed anyone. On Oct. 3, 2012, then-16-year-old Blake Layman [broke into a neighbor’s house](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/26/felony-murder-teenager-55-years-jail-indiana?CMP=fb%5Fgu "undefined") along with three other teenagers and 21-year-old Danzele Johnson. All of them believed the home was empty, but once inside, the homeowner, Rodney Scott, heard the teens and fired on them with a handgun, fatally hitting Johnson. **MORE:** [States Use Secret Psychological Tests to Predict Future Crimes](http://time.com/3720181/state-jails-psychological-tests/ "undefined") Layman and three other teens—now known as the Elkhart Four—were unarmed at the time, and it was the homeowner who in fact shot Johnson. But the would-be burglars were the ones charged with “felony murder,” which can be found in most states but is rarely used, and allows for murder charges for individuals who commit a felony that leads to a death. Three were convicted after trial, while one pled guilty to the charges. The Indiana Supreme Court is now [considering taking up the case](http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Elkhart-Four-lawyers-to-ask-Ind-Supreme-Court-for-reduced-sentences-294210321.html "undefined"). Last year, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the teenagers’ convictions but said that the sentences applied were too severe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3724595/elkhart-four-felony-murder-indiana-supreme-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3724595/elkhart-four-felony-murder-indiana-supreme-court/"},"headline":"Why These Indiana Teenagers Were Convicted of Murder Without Killing Anyone","datePublished":"2015-02-26T20:02:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:45:35.344Z","description":"The so-called 'Elkhart Four' were convicted under a little-used 'felony murder' law","url":"https://time.com/3724595/elkhart-four-felony-murder-indiana-supreme-court/","keywords":["Murder","Crime","police","Courts","Indiana"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3724595/elkhart-four-felony-murder-indiana-supreme-court/","name":"Why These Indiana Teenagers Were Convicted of Murder Without Killing Anyone"}}]}] ```