ELWOOD, Ind.–A pair of sunglasses were set on a podium Wednesday morning by Matt Shahanavaz, Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahanavaz’s father. He wore the glasses, as he had since he was a kid, because his eyes were especially sensitive to light. The glasses were what he brought to a press conference where Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings announced he would seek the death penalty for Carl Boards, III, the man accused of shooting Shahanavaz multiple times.
“The death sentence is the law in the State of Indiana and if it’s gonna be pursued, this is the kind of case where it needs to be pursued,” said Cummings.
The decision was not his alone. Cummings consulted with other attorneys and the Shahanavaz family.
“The death penalty committee, a complex litigation committee with the most experienced prosecutors in Indiana and representatives of the attorney general’s office,” he said. “Unanimous decision that this is a case we should move forward with, pursuing the death penalty.”
LISTEN: The press conference
When asked whether the appeals process, which can have a defendant sitting on death row for years, made any difference in his considerations, Cummings said that part is not his responsibility.
“I can’t make my decision based upon what may happen with appellate courts and where the law might be,” he said.
The law, or law enforcement at least, was on his side. State Police Superintendent Doug Carter endorsed the death penalty decision. His investigators worked on the case.
“It’s very clear that if there’s not this level of accountability in our society without which the possibility of what could come, we’re gonna continue to perpetuate this model of violence that’s permeated our entire society,” said Carter. “These are the steps that have to be taken to bring us back to some level of civilization.”
Carter added comments of support for Richmond Officer Seara Burton, shot last week and still in the hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
A cop for 15 years in Anderson before becoming an attorney and then a prosecutor, for the last 24 years, Cummings said the shooting was the worst of the worst.
“I’ve never seen a police shooting like this, never heard of one anywhere in the country.”
For Matt Shahanavaz, it indeed was the worst. He lost his son to a man who court documents say, was bent on hurting and killing police officers. Noah Shahanavaz was killed by shots from a rifle, according to police, that was found on Boards’ front seat.
“My family misses Noah more than words can express,” said his father.
