Man sentenced to 55 years in 2020 killing outside gas station on Indianapolis' east side
Update: Maurice Lillie was sentenced to 55 years in prison on June 15, 2022, after being convicted of murder in connection with the death of Dustin McClennon.
Almost two years after Dustin McClennon was beaten with a golf club and stabbed outside a gas station on Indianapolis’ east side, his killer has been convicted of murder.
McClennon arrived at the Citgo Gas Station with two other people. By the time one of them came back outside, they found McClennon badly injured in the back alley, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The killing took place around 10 p.m. on May 26, 2020, in the 2700 block of East 38th Street. Maurice Lillie, 22, was found guilty of murder after a two-day jury trial in connection with McClennon’s death, court records show.
A truck driver told investigators Lillie approached him at the gas station and said that McClennon disrespected his wife. Lillie then grabbed a golf club out of the trunk of a vehicle nearby, according to the probable cause affidavit for Lillie’s arrest.
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The witness saw Lillie hit McClennon in the back of the head with the golf club, causing McClennon to fall into a wall. Lillie then struck McClennon about nine more times with the gold club before dragging him behind the gas station, the truck driver told police.
Lillie came out from behind the gas station, threw the golf club on the ground then asked the truck driver if he would like to help hide a dead body to which the truck driver declined, according to investigators.
Lillie drove away from the gas station with several other people in an SUV, leaving behind the vehicle that had contained the golf club. Detectives found numerous knives, including a bloody knife, in the trunk of the vehicle left behind.
McClennon’s cause of death was stabbing and blunt force trauma, according to police.
Later in the investigation, the truck driver identified Lillie in a photo and Lillie’s fingerprints were found on the driver side of the vehicle that contained the bloody knife, according to police. Lillie was arrested about two weeks later.
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While speaking with police, Lillie admitted to being at the gas station, going to the trunk of a car to get a golf club, dragging McClennon’s body behind the gas station, and removing a knife from McClennon’s neck, according to the affidavit.
The day before McClennon’s killing, Lillie was arrested and charged with carrying a handgun without a license. He was released from jail about eight hours before McClennon’s killing, jail records show.
Lillie was sentenced to 55 years in prison on June 15, after being convicted of murder in connection with the death of Dustin McClennon.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Maurice Lillie sentenced in 2020 Indianapolis gas station killing
