In Indiana, Joshua Thompson received 45 years after admitting he killed Kaitlynn Lee, whose three children survived her.
NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Joshua Thompson apologized to Kaitlynn Lee’s family and friends before a judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison for murdering the 25-year-old mother of three.
The apology came at the end of a case that began with a shooting through a kitchen window on Aug. 10, 2024. Thompson, 25, had first denied the murder charge, then asked for a change of plea hearing. He pleaded guilty in Floyd County court on May 28, 2026. The judge sentenced him to 45 years, to be served at the same time as a domestic violence sentence. Thompson had already spent about 21 months in jail.
“To all Kaitlynn’s friends and family, I just want to say that I’m truly sorry for my actions,” Thompson said in court. “I hope one day you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.” His words followed a long public record of evidence collected by police. Investigators said Thompson went to a Village Drive apartment where Lee was with a friend, looked through a window and fired into the kitchen. Lee was hit in the head. Authorities said children were inside the apartment at the time, though public records did not report physical injuries to them.
Lee had been making a video with her friend just before the shooting. Police said the women were laughing, dancing and lip-syncing to a song when they heard banging at the kitchen window. Lee turned and saw Thompson outside. According to the affidavit, she asked, “What are you doing here?” Investigators said the recording then showed a blast from the window area, Lee falling out of view and smoke in the room before the video stopped. The phone video became one of the clearest pieces of evidence in the case.
The case was also built on what Thompson said after the shooting. Police said he called his brother while crying and distraught. His brother told investigators that Thompson said he had shot the mother of his child and asked what he should do. The brother urged him to call 911. Police said Thompson did call and told a dispatcher he had shot Lee. Later, during an interview with officers, he admitted driving to the apartment, watching from outside and pulling the trigger, according to court documents.
Investigators said jealousy was part of Thompson’s own explanation. He told police he had gone to the apartment to see whether Lee had any other men there, according to the affidavit. He also said he could see Lee dancing and performing for the video she and her friend were recording. Police said he knew there was an active no-contact order with Lee as the protected person. That order had been issued after an April 2024 incident. Prosecutors charged him with invasion of privacy in addition to murder because of the order.
The friend who survived the shooting gave police a broader picture of the relationship. She said Lee and Thompson had a toxic relationship and were often in conflict. She also told investigators that Lee had once said that if she were ever found dead, Joshua had killed her. That statement became one of the most striking details in the affidavit, but it was not the only evidence. Police also cited the video, the 911 call, Thompson’s interview, the protective order and a handgun and spent casing found outside the window.
Floyd County Prosecutor Chris Lane said after the sentencing that the office had pursued accountability through the murder plea. “Our job is to use the laws of Indiana to seek righteousness and to protect our community, and that’s what we did today,” Lane said. Earlier in the case, Lane said domestic violence allegations are taken seriously and can end in tragedy. His office’s decision to accept the guilty plea meant Lee’s family did not have to sit through a trial built around the video of her final moments.
Outside the legal record, Lee’s death was marked by family notices and fundraising messages. Her obituary said she was survived by three children, her mother, her brother and other relatives. A fundraising page started by a relative said money would help cover a funeral and support expenses for the children. It described Lee’s death as a loss caused by another person’s actions and said her children now had to grow up without her. Those details made clear the human cost behind the court file.
The shooting also drew attention because it happened during an ordinary act of recording a social video. The setting was not a street corner, a bar or a public dispute. It was a kitchen in a friend’s apartment before sunrise. Police said Lee and her friend were having fun when the banging at the window interrupted them. In a few seconds, the phone that had been used to record music and movement became evidence in a murder case. The video preserved the timing in a way that later testimony could only explain.
Thompson’s sentence now moves the case into the custody phase. The Indiana Department of Correction will calculate how much time he serves under state law, including jail credit already earned. The court record shows the murder conviction, the domestic violence sentence running with it and the facts prosecutors used to close the case.
Lee’s family leaves court with a conviction and a sentence, but without the person at the center of the case. Thompson’s apology is part of the record. So is the 45-year term for killing a mother in front of a camera and near children inside an apartment.
Author note: Last updated June 1, 2026.