Bill Would Allow Death Penalty For Slayings At Schools

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty or life without parole for anyone who commits a murder on school grounds or in places of worship.

The bill has passed the Senate and is assigned to the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee. The panel's chairman says he's receptive to adding the locations to the aggravating factors that warrant the death penalty.

The Indianapolis Star reports Indiana has nearly 20 aggravating factors that allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty or life without parole in murder cases.

Sen. Brandt Hershman says he sponsored the bill after a slaying at Purdue University in which prosecutors weren't able to seek the death penalty because state law doesn't include campus shootings as aggravating factors.