An Indiana man has been sentenced to 70 years in prison for murdering his mother and leaving her body to decompose in an abandoned home in Evansville.
On Tuesday, Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Judge Ryan D. Hatfield handed down the lengthy sentence to 30-year-old Jaron Wells. In July, Wells was convicted of murder and later pleaded guilty to a firearm enhancement charge. Together, the convictions carried a possible sentence of up to 85 years. Prosecutors also confirmed Wells must register as a violent offender if he is ever released.
The case centered on the July 8, 2023 killing of Wells’ mother, 45-year-old Shanay Michelle Hunt. According to an affidavit, Wells shot Hunt in the head using a .45 GAP (Glock Auto Pistol) round, a rare type of ammunition. The killing took place in a vacant house on Harriet Street.
Hunt’s body went undiscovered for nearly a week. On July 14, a former resident of the house entered the property after detecting a foul odor. Inside, he discovered Hunt’s body lying on a mattress, already covered in maggots. He quickly left and sought help from a nearby outreach center, which contacted authorities.
Police determined Hunt had been dead for several days. Investigators noted she was homeless at the time and had occasionally been staying in abandoned properties.
Suspicion turned to Wells after a series of developments. A gas station employee recalled seeing Hunt with him shortly before her death. Records later showed Wells had purchased both a .45 caliber Glock pistol and the rare ammunition just weeks before the killing.
Adding to the disturbing details, investigators found that Wells unfriended his mother on Facebook the same day her name was reported in the news as the victim. One of his ex-girlfriends also told police she had ended their relationship over what she described as the “weird” situation between Wells and his mother.
Hunt’s friends reported that her last conversation came on the day she was killed, after an argument with her son. She reassured a friend she would be fine and would call back later, but she never did.
Wells was eventually arrested in Harrisburg, Illinois, in September 2023. Inside the home where he was staying, officers found a handwritten note in a blue notebook. The message described an act on a Saturday that left him “without a living parent” and would devastate his sister. The date, July 8, matched the day of Hunt’s killing. A handwriting expert later confirmed the note belonged to Wells.
Although his first trial ended in a hung jury, prosecutors retried the case in the summer of 2024. They presented a combination of forensic evidence, handwriting analysis, surveillance footage, firearms testimony, and witness accounts. This time, the jury convicted Wells, leading to Tuesday’s sentencing.
The case has drawn attention both for its brutality and the chilling trail of evidence that ultimately secured the conviction.
