On April 14, 2026, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s deputies and Evansville Police Department officers responded to the theater parking lot on Pearl Drive following reports of shots fired. A male victim was located deceased in a black Dodge Durango at the bottom of a wooded embankment, having sustained apparent gunshot wounds. Kardae Langley was arrested that evening and charged with Murder and Robbery, a Level 1 Felony. The investigation continued through the night and into the following day, resulting in the arrest of the two remaining suspects.
On April 15, 2026 investigators with our local Joint Drug Task Force and the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force developed information that suspected shooter Deshawndre Brown had fled to a hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Flock Safety camera technology assisted in confirming his location. Contact was made with the USMS Fugitive Task Force in St. Louis, who established surveillance on the hotel. Brown was spotted and taken into custody without incident at approximately 5:30 p.m. Detectives are currently enroute to conduct an interview. Brown will face extradition to Indiana on an outstanding Murder Warrant.
The Joint Drug Task Force, EPD Street Crimes Unit, and USMS Fugitive Task Force developed information that Pierce Butler was located at an address in the 400 block of South Kentucky Avenue. Surveillance was established and a search warrant was obtained for the residence. Evansville Police Department SWAT executed the warrant and Butler was taken into custody without incident shortly after 8:00 p.m. An interview is set to commence and a search of the residence is ongoing.
As a result of the overall investigation, additional charges are expected against individuals not directly involved in the homicide. To date, investigators have executed at least 23 search warrants on vehicles, phones, and residences.
Sheriff Noah Robinson stated, “Any individual who provided assistance to these suspects following the commission of these crimes will be referred to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office for felony charges. Helping a murder suspect evade justice is a crime, and we will treat it as one.”
Sheriff Noah Robinson would like to recognize the following agencies and units whose efforts were instrumental in bringing these suspects into custody: Evansville Police Department, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office, Evansville Crime Gun Intelligence Center, ATF Task Force, Evansville Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force – Evansville and St. Louis, Evansville Street Crimes Unit, Evansville SWAT, and the Indiana State Police.
ARRESTED:
Deshawndre Brown, 19, of Evansville. Murder, Robbery as a Level 1 Felony.
Pierce Butler, 18, of Evansville. Murder, Robbery as a Level 1 Felony.
PICTURED ABOVE: Suspected shooter Deshawndre Brown is taken into custody in St. Louis, MO.
PREVIOUSLY: Arrest Made in Pearl Drive Parking Lot Homicide
Presumption of Innocence Notice: The fact that a person has been arrested or charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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