Jury finds Muncie man not guilty of murder, robbery charges stemming from 2020 slaying

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man has been found not guilty of murder and robbery charges by a Delaware Circuit Court 5 jury.

Dimorrea J. Benning, now 23, had been accused of participating in an armed robbery in January 2020 that saw a 19-year-old Muncie man, Seth N. Barton, fatally shot.

A co-defendant, Kevoszia J. Winston, in April 2022 was found guilty of murder and robbery charges by another jury.

Winston — who prosecutors said had fired the gunshot that killed Barton — was later sentenced to 58 years in prison by Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. Now 23, Winston is incarcerated at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility with a projected release date in September 2063, according to a state Department of Correction website.

At a trial that concluded on Thursday, Benning and his attorneys, Scott Mandarich and Gabriel Berry, maintained the Muncie man was not present at the time of the slaying, which took place in an apartment in the 2500 block of West White River Boulevard.

The jury deliberated for about three hours before returning the not-guilty verdicts.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.