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Editor’s note: This article has been updated.
Marion Superior Court Judge Shatrese M. Flowers, 50, has died, according to the court.
Police reports filed Sunday indicate Flowers died of natural causes, according to Fox59.
Flower most recently served as judge of Marion Superior Court 28.
First elected in 2014, Flowers had been on the bench since 2005, when she began serving as a master commissioner for the Marion Superior Court. She was elected by voters in 2014 to become a Marion Superior Court judge and was retained in 2020 after receiving a favorable recommendation from the Marion County Judicial Selection Committee.
During her time on the Marion Superior Court bench, Flowers served as the supervising judge of jury pool and the Arrestee Processing Center. She had also been an associate presiding judge on the Marion Superior Court Executive Committee since 2021.
She graduated from DePauw University with her bachelor’s degree in 1995. She then earned her J.D. from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
After her graduation, Flowers went into private practice at a small, family-owned firm.
Prior to taking the bench, she worked as assistant corporation counsel for the Indianapolis Office of Corporation Counsel and as a deputy public defender for the Marion County Public Defender Agency.
Flowers presided over many significant cases in Marion County.
That includes issuing the order vacating the first-degree murder conviction of Leon Benson after an investigation revealed evidence buried in the police file by the lead detective pointed to another man as the actual shooter.
In the order granting the amended petition for post-conviction relief, Flowers wrote Brady violations precluded Benson from pursuing a viable defense.
“The cumulative effect of withholding the above-referenced evidence resulted in a violation of Leon Benson’s due process rights afforded to him under the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article 1 Sections 12 & 13 of the Indiana Constitution,” the order read.
Flowers also handled the trial of Brandon Kaiser, who was convicted of shooting two judges in downtown Indianapolis in 2019.
Kaiser shot Clark County Judge Bradley Jacobs and former judge Andrew Adams. He was convicted in Marion Superior Court of multiple felony counts of battery and one misdemeanor count of carrying a handgun without a license.
The Indiana Bar Foundation shared its condolences to family, friends and those who knew Flowers on X.
The Marion County Democratic Party also released a statement on Facebook saying, “We join the entire community in mourning the passing of Judge Flowers. May she rest in power. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and colleagues at this time.”
Details about memorial services for Flowers were unavailable at the time of Indiana Lawyer’s Monday deadline.
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