More details released on E. Louisiana Street murder suspect’s arrest

EVANSVILLE, In (WEHT) – An affidavit is releasing some more information on the arrest of a suspect charged with murder.

According to Evansville Police, on July 17 at 8:03 p.m. Central Dispatch received a report of a caller arriving home and someone being shot. The caller explained the person, 37-year-old Joshua Seymour, was homeless and was being allowed to stay at her home.

Detectives arrived and found Seymour lying in front of the back door in the kitchen. Detectives saw there was a large amount of blood covering the kitchen area.

The reporter was interviewed by EPD, which she claimed she was in a relationship with “Marty” Miniard, later identified as Martin Miniard. She gave her recollection of the events of the day prior to the incident. EPD says at one point, she was talking with Miniard about their relationship and also explained Seymour entered the home from the back door, which was not unusual for him to just enter the home.

The reporter then said as she was walking away from the home, Miniard allegedly came out of her house and told her to call an ambulance. She claimed right before that, she heard a boom sound.

EPD states during a search warrant, the evidence found matched Seymour’s injuries were from a gunshot from a shotgun. EPD says there were pieces of a shotgun found in a kitchen chair and that the only pieces found were the barrel and handle of the shotgun.

Another person, Robert Fraize, was interviewed. EPD says Fraize had an outstanding felony warrant against him, plus a debit card belonging to him was found in the home.

Fraize claimed he was at the house and that the reporter was the mother of his son. He reportedly used the nickname “Stumpjumper”, that was later identified as Miniard. He claimed he and “Stump” picked up the reporter’s kids from daycare. Fraize later said two other people were at the home, one of them being Seymour. He claimed he was upstairs in the attic area talking on the phone when he was called downstairs by the reporter.

He also claims he saw “Stump” sitting at the kitchen table staring straight at Seymour, pointing a shotgun at him. He said he put himself in between the two, trying to get Seymour to leave the house through the back door but did not realize that Seymour was intoxicated.

Fraize then claimed Seymour said he “couldn’t leave with that on my name,” and no sooner saw Seymour being shot.

Fraize also says he called for the reporter to call 911 and left with Miniard with in a Dodge Caravan with Miniard carrying the shotgun and a belt of shotgun shell.

Fraize reportedly described the shotgun as “illegal” as it was a sawed-off shotgun that looked like a pistol, and it was also smaller than a standard shotgun.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW).