Man Gets 45 Years for Fatal Indy Gas Station Carjacking

INDIANAPOLIS — A man will serve over 40 years behind bars for a deadly carjacking on the near east side of Indianapolis two years ago.

Online court records indicate that Chad Martin was sentenced to 45 years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the murder of 51-year-old Shane Coffman on April 29, 2024. As part of his sentencing, Martin received a jail credit for a little over two years of time already served.

Martin had pleaded guilty to the murder charge on May 4. In exchange, the State of Indiana dismissed a level 2 felony for robbery resulting in serious bodily injury that had been pending against him in the case.

In addition to serving the 45 years for murder, Martin will serve an additional nine years after being convicted of armed robbery and one year for operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person.

Previous reporting details how Coffman was inside an Argo gas station in the 2000 block of English Avenue when he observed someone trying to steal his car. Coffman approached the suspect, who was later confirmed to be Martin, and tried to pull him from the driver’s seat and out of the vehicle.

However, Martin managed to take off, dragging Coffman across the gas station’s parking lot while he was hanging onto the driver’s side door. Coffman later died from the injuries he sustained during the incident after being transported to an area hospital in critical condition.

Police found Martin a short time later after the stolen vehicle was located near 10th and Holt Road. It was later revealed that Martin had been released from the Criminal Justice Campus just two hours before the homicide following an arrest for drunk driving.

“For this to happen, it’s unfair,” the victim’s son previously told FOX59/CBS4. “You can’t keep letting people out like this and expect different results. You can’t fix some people.”

Before his murder arrest, jail logs revealed that Martin had been in and out of Marion County Jail 30 times since 2010.