BLOOMINGTON — A Bloomington man was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to possession of meth tied to a 2022 murder case.
Gary O’Bryant was sentenced by Monroe Circuit Court 3 Judge Christine Talley Haseman to six years for possession of meth over ten grams but less than 28 grams. Two years were suspended to supervised probation. He was also sentenced to ten years for being a habitual felony offender.
According to court records, O’Bryant was convicted of a 2009 burglary in Marshall County, a 2014 intimidation in St. Joseph County, and a 2019 theft in Elkhart County.
O’Bryant initially faced felony charges of murder, obstruction of justice, maintaining a common nuisance, possession of meth, dealing in meth, and a misdemeanor charge of failing to report a dead body.
As part of the plea deal, all charges, including the murder charges, were dropped.
O’Bryant was arrested after Bloomington Police Department officers responded at 1:15 a.m. to a report of a shooting that occurred inside a residence in the 900 block of West Graham Drive on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.
However, the caller could only provide vague information and refused to identify themselves or others believed to have been present when the shooting occurred, said Capt. Pedigo.
Officers checked the area and attempted to make contact at several residences in the neighborhood but could not locate anything suspicious.
A few hours later, investigators were able to speak with two individuals who claimed to know about the shooting. After speaking with those individuals and learning more information, investigators petitioned the court for a search warrant for two residences in the 900 block of West Graham Drive.
While serving those warrants, they located O’Braynt, who claimed he was napping on the couch. He was detained while police searched the home.
Officers located evidence that indicated that someone had indeed been injured inside the residence and then located a deceased man inside a bedroom. The deceased man had been wrapped in several blankets that were bound with rope.
An autopsy was conducted on the 29-year-old Caleb Cowden on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, and it was determined he died from a gunshot wound. An autopsy found Cowden died from a gunshot wound to the head.
According to court documents, three witnesses told detectives that they were at the home during a meth deal when they heard a gunshot.
They claimed O’Bryant then came out of the room and shouted, “I told you I was going to kill that (expletive).”
When questioned by police, O’Bryant claimed he had no knowledge of the shooting but admitted to selling drugs from the apartment.
O’Bryant had meth and drug paraphernalia on him when he was arrested.
Police found a 9mm gun magazine loaded with bullets and two trash bags filled with clothes covered in blood.
“It was abundantly obvious and clear that someone attempted to clean up the crime scene because not only had the dead body been moved from where the witnesses had originally seen it within the apartment the previous night, but the majority of the blood that was observed pooling beneath the body had also been cleaned up,” a detective wrote in court documents.
The witnesses told detectives that O’Bryant was walking towards Rockport Road that night after the shooting.
During a later search at the bus stop on Graham Drive and Rockport Road, police found a 9mm gun magazine similar to the one found at the apartment.They also found a cell phone that was ringing. When an officer answered the phone, a woman asked to speak O’Bryant.
Police also found two guns in the woods by the bus stop.
