Baines hears impact statements from families

Arnett B. Baines avoided trial and the possibility of facing the death penalty by pleading guilty to three counts of murder in a 2019 triple homicide on Audubon Avenue earlier this month.

Although Baines will be sent to a state prison to begin serving his sentence, he was kept in Daviess County in order to be present at a hearing Thursday morning, where family members of the three victims, and the surviving victim of the shootings, testified about the impact of the incidents on their lives.

Baines showed little reaction as he listened, but the statements given by family members were emotionally charged.

“There’s evil in this courtroom today,” Anna Sowders said, in a statement read before Daviess Circuit Judge Tom Castlen.

Baines, 36, of Dixiana Court, pleaded guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of Jay Michael Sowders, Robert D. Smith Jr. and Christopher Carie.

The plea agreement calls for Baines to serve life in prison without parole until he serves 25 years in prison. With time already served in jail, Baines will be eligible for parole in 20 years.

Anna Sowders, who is Jay Sowders’ sister, addressed Baines directly at times.

“What I will say is I do not agree with the sentence you received,” Sowders said. “What you should have received was death by electrocution, and when you die, I hope your soul burns in hell for eternity.”

Carmen Vanegas, who is the mother of Christopher Carie, was also shot in the head by Baines during the Jan. 17, 2019 incident.

Vanegas said the experience caused lasting trauma.

“I have nightmares, because I relive everything” about the shootings, Vanegas said. Baines also pleaded guilty to first-degree assault for shooting Vanegas, as well as charges of tampering with evidence, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and torture of a dog or cat.

While motive was not discussed during the pretrial hearings leading up to Baines’ decision to plead guilty, Vanegas suggested in her statement the killings were drug-related.

“Why would you think any drug was worth taking a life?” Vanegas said, and also that, “You should have never shot anybody for a drug. Nothing is worth taking an innocent life.

“My son was 18, with his whole life ahead of him, and you took it,” Vanegas said to Baines.

When talking about her nightmares of the shooting, Vanegas asked Baines, “does it make you happy?”

Vanegas said she hoped Baines will never be released from prison.

“You have no heart, no remorse, no nothing,” Vanegas said.

Robert D. Smith Sr., the father of Robert Smith Jr., told Baines “you lost your soul to the devil.”

“You took it on yourself to take a life — not one, not two, but three,” Smith said. “With that being said, I want you to know every time you close your eyes, I want you to witness what you’ve done. You’ve destroyed a lot of lives.”

Smith told Baines, “I want you to know I do not hate you, because hating you would not let me move forward, and I will move forward.”

Teresa Smith, Robert Smith Jr.’s mother, said, “by forgiving you, I’m taking back power,” and that Baines should “seek forgiveness from God and from the families you hurt, and maybe God will forgive you.”

Smith said she and her son’s children would work to keep Baines from being paroled when he becomes eligible in 20 years.

“I will fight as long as I can, as long as I’m on this earth,” she said.

Kayla Kiper, said she and Robert Smith have a daughter, and told Baines, “you took (Smith) away from her the day before she turned nine months old. I have to take her to the graveyard to see her daddy. I hope you never get out of prison. You should never be able to see your kids, just like he can’t see his.”

Baines made no statement during the hearing.

Baines’ co-defendant, Cylar L. Shemwell, 37, of the 1600 block of Wisteria Gardens, is scheduled to go to trial next month on three counts of murder in connection with the shootings. Video footage of the shootings shows Baines shooting the three men, while Shemwell sits nearby.

Shemwell will not face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted at trial. The trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on June 3 and opening arguments on June 24.