MOUNT VERNON — A Knox County Grand Jury indicted Patrick Yoder, 36, of Mount Vernon, for aggravated murder with a gun specification on Monday, according to a press release from Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville.
Yoder was charged in connection with the shooting death of Justin Proper on Saturday, March 8.
According to the Mount Vernon Police, Yoder followed Proper into a Dollar General Store on Coshocton Avenue late Saturday afternoon and shot him multiple times with a 9mm pistol.
According to the police investigation, Yoder knew Proper from a work assignment. Yoder alleged that he had been assaulted in the workplace. A previous MVPD investigation found no support for Yoder’s allegations.
McConville stated that the aggravated murder charge carries potential penalties of 20 years to life, 25 years to life, 30 years to life, or life without the possibility of parole.
The gun specification carries an additional three-year sentence, which would be served prior to the term for aggravated murder, the Prosecutor stated.
“In returning an indictment for aggravated murder, the Grand Jury found that Yoder
engaged in prior calculation and design of a purposeful killing,” McConville said.
The Prosecutor noted that is the difference between aggravated murder and murder.
McConville stated that none of the aggravating factors that would have made the case eligible for the death penalty were present.
The investigation was led by Det. Tim Arnold of the Mount Vernon Police, with assistance from the Knox County Sheriffs’ Office, Knox County Coroner’s Office, Licking County Coroner’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Yoder will be arraigned in Knox County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, March 12,
2025 at 1:30 p.m.