Franklin
The sentencing of a Jennings County woman charged in a kidnapping, assault and robbery at a local barn has been postponed in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 until next year.
Emily Franklin, 18, of Commiskey, was originally charged with robbery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 2 felony; kidnapping with serious bodily injury as a Level 3 felony; criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 3 felony; and aggravated battery as a Level 3 felony.
But Franklin accepted a plea agreement in late May where she agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of assisting a criminal as a Level 5 felony. In exchange, all original charges are expected to be dropped.
Franklin’s sentencing was scheduled for Wednesday, but Judge James Worton granted a request for a delay from the prosecution.
In the plea bargain, prosecutors agreed the Jennings County native would not serve more than four years in prison. Should Worton hand down a longer sentence, the agreement calls for Franklin to spend the additional time on probation.
But part of the agreement is that Franklin must agree to testify truthfully about co-defendants Charles A. Breedlove, 19, of 2017 14th St.; Ashton Fields, 19, of 762 Clifty Drive-C; and Zablin “Jai” Woodruff, 19, of 238 N. Hughes St.
On June 2, 2023, Franklin told the male teenage victim she was taking him to get something to eat. However, she drove him to a barn on Bonnell Road, where the three male defendants were waiting.
The victim was grabbed by the neck, punched in the face, pistol whipped, and threatened with both a knife and gun, according to a probable cause affidavit.
He also had the skin over his throat cut with a pair of scissors, sustained burns to his face and hands after hot liquid was thrown on his face, and nearly had his fingers broken, court documents state.
No motive for the crimes has been established in court.
