Kevin Isom was sentenced to death by the State of Indiana for the murders of his wife and two step children. According to court documents Kevin Isom learned that his wife was planning to leave him so he grabbed a shotgun and would shoot and kill her and her two children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci’Andria Cole, 13. Kevin Isom would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Kevin Isom 2021 Information
| DOC Number | 108003 |
| First Name | KEVIN |
| Middle Name | C |
| Last Name | ISOM |
| Suffix | |
| Date of Birth | 01/04/1966 |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Black |
| Facility/Location | Indiana State Prison |
| Earliest Possible Release Date * *Offenders scheduled for release on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday are released on Monday. Offenders scheduled for release on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday are released on Thursday. Offenders whose release date falls on a Holiday are released on the first working day prior to the Holiday. | 00/00/0000 |
Kevin Isom More News
A Gary man on death row for killing his wife and two stepchildren is still seeking a new trial, or alternatively, asking to be sentenced again.
Kevin Isom, 53, was sentenced to death in 2013 after a jury convicted him in the Aug. 6, 2007, deaths of his wife, Cassandra Isom, and stepchildren Michael Moore, 16, and Ci’Andria Cole, 13.
Police found all three shot in the family’s apartment in Gary’s Miller section. Isom was found sitting on the floor in a bedroom with blood on his clothes, court records show.
Isom filed a direct appeal, which was denied. His sentence was, however, amended to three concurrent, rather than consecutive, death sentences, court records show. Isom then filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which was denied in June.
Now, Isom has appealed that denial, asking the Indiana Supreme Court to reverse his convictions and remand his case for a new trial. As an alternative, Isom asked for a new sentencing proceeding, court records show.
Isom’s convictions and death sentence violate the U.S. and Indiana constitutions, according to an 87-page brief filed Friday by public defenders representing Isom.
Specifically, the brief states that Isom had ineffective counsel at trial; his counsel for his appeal had a “constitutionally deficient performance” which prejudiced Isom; and the post-conviction court erred in denying a request to determine whether Isom was still competent to proceed, among other issues.
If the Indiana Supreme Court affirms the denial of Isom’s petition for post-conviction relief, “Isom may want to ask the federal courts to review his convictions and sentence,” according to the brief.
Isom was denied his right be tried by an impartial jury, the brief states. Prospective jurors discussed Isom’s case during the selection process, even though they were instructed not to do so, according to the brief.
“Counsel should have moved to strike the entire panel,” the brief states.
Isom’s current counsel asked permission to question Isom’s jurors about his case, but that was denied, court records show.
Isom’s trial team should have interviewed Dr. Gary Durak and called him as a witness, the brief states. Durak evaluated Isom two times in 2008, closer in time to when Isom was charged than two other doctors who did testify, according to the brief. Durak had noted that Isom may be “on the schizophrenia spectrum,” according to court records.
“They jury heard nothing to substantiate Isom’s severe mental illness,” the brief states.
Having this information, along with other records and mitigating information, “is reasonably likely to have moved the jury to determine Isom did not deserve the death penalty,” according to the brief.
Isom was deemed competent to stand trial, but he “truly does not remember what happened in his apartment,” the brief states.
Isom has previously refused to be in the courtroom and “irrationally refused to have any discussions with counsel,” according to the brief. Isom’s team argued that he should be evaluated again to see if he is competent to understand his current proceedings, the brief states.
“Each team of attorneys representing Isom has, at some point in their respective times on Isom’s case, harbored a good-faith belief that Isom’s mental condition was or is so compromised so that Isom was not able to assist the attorneys,” according to the brief.
The brief also requested that the state “provide information regarding the drugs which will be used to execute Isom,” which was denied because an execution date has not been set, so the state does not know which substances or methodology will be used.
Isom’s team is worried this could affect his opportunity to challenge whether the method is acceptable under the U.S. and Indiana constitutions, the brief states.
Isom is currently being held at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, according to the Indiana Department of Correction.
