INDIANAPOLIS — Two men are behind bars accused of beating a man to death at a home on Indy’s near southwest side.
On Sunday at about 6:30 p.m., police responded to the 1700 block of Howard Street to investigate a report of a person assaulted.
Witnesses said the 56-year-old victim had been brutally assaulted, stripped naked, tossed on the front porch and dragged back inside where he was found by police and rushed to the hospital.
“It’s hard to wrap my head around. I can’t imagine the things he went through with all of this,” said the victim’s brother, Francis Purvis.
Purvis’s older brother, Bryan Ward, died Monday after being declared brain dead at the hospital.
According to the affidavit, the murder took place because the victim complimented a female neighbor’s appearance.
Vincent McCurtis, 29, took offense and told the woman, “I’m going to kill him for you. I’m going to do this for you.”
Vincent allegedly added, “This is what I do, this is who am. I’m going to take care of it.”
Brandon Jackson, 23, is also accused of taking part in the assault.
“They said they were going to beat him to death, and he did,” said Purvis.
“It sucks that he’s gone. He was a good man,” said family friend Keirsten Puckett.
The victim’s friends placed flowers and a cross outside the home where the attack took place. They insist the legal system failed the family.
“It was 100% preventable. The guy had done it before, and he did it again because they let him out,” said Puckett.
Court records show McCurtis was charged with aggravated battery, involuntary manslaughter and other charges for beating a man to death inside the lobby of the Shadeland Inn in March of 2018.
McCurtis later accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 16 years with eight executed in the Indiana Department of Corrections followed by four years on home detention with GPS monitoring and the final four years suspended.
McCurtis was on home detention during the alleged assault.
“I really feel like we’re being failed by the system, and there’s no consequences anymore,” said Purvis. “There shouldn’t be two families going through this from one guy.”
Both suspects are being held without bond.
Ward’s family set up an account to accept donations to assist with funeral expenses. That link is:
