An Indianapolis man who was charged for a woman's death behind a laundromat told police that he dragged the woman into the snow after she fell asleep while they were "hanging out drinking" in his car.
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Justin Holman, 36, was charged with reckless homicide over four months after the murder happened.
Police had found 50-year-old Shanel Smith dead in a snowbank behind a laundromat on Feb. 19, early in the morning.
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Video of the incident showed a man dragging Smith out of the passenger seat of a black sedan before throwing the woman's belongings next to her and driving off, USA Today reported.
An autopsy was conducted the same day Smith was found and found that she died of "environmental cold exposure." The Marion County Coroner told Indystar Smith's death was ruled a homicide because the video showed her being left intentionally while unconscious in harsh elements.
Holman was identified as a suspect because his vehicle matched some of the Pontiac G6's characteristics seen in other street surveillance, according to an affidavit, USA Today reported.
Holman was found a day after the incident when police tracked the car to a residence half a mile from the laundromat. According to the affidavit, Holman "put on what appeared to be the same jacket and hat as the suspect seen in the video who pulled Ms. Smith from the vehicle and left her in the snow and ice" before speaking with detectives USA Today reported.
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Holman spoke with detectives and said he and Smith were "hanging out and drinking" in his car between the laundromat and adjacent liquor store the afternoon before her death. After some time, he said Smith had fallen asleep and "would not wake up, so he pulled her out of the vehicle and left," investigators said.
While he was identified days after the incident as a suspect, he was not charged with reckless homicide until Jun. 29 and arrested two days later.
The coroner's office gave police its homicide ruling on Apr. 30, while toxicology tests can take anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks for results, the IndyStar reported.
"Once this is determined to be a homicide, the criminal investigation takes another turn," IMPD Officer Genae Cook, a spokesperson for the department, said. Cook went on to say that she cannot go into the details of an ongoing investigation. "All that stuff takes time."
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Holman is currently out of jail after having a $3,000 bond placed on him. A pretrial hearing in the case is set for Oct. 5.
Smith's family is now happy that a suspect has been arrested, but they feel that the charges are too light.
"Everyone is very upset ... that he is only locked up for a level 5 (felony)," John Wallace, the father of Smith's two children, ages 10 and 12, said when asked about the charges against Holman.
"We are not very happy with the case so far," Wallace added. "My kids will never be able to see their mother ever again because of what he's done."