(5-12-22) The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld Shelby Hiestand (20) Portland murder conviction.

A Jay Circuit Court jury last August found Hiestand guilty of fatally shooting in the back a co-defendant, Esther Jane Stephen’s former boyfriend and father of her child Shea Briar. She was later sentenced to 55 years in prison by Judge Brian Hutchison.

In a recent ruling, the state appeals court rejected an argument by Hiestand’s attorney, John Quirk of Muncie, that jurors should not have been shown a video recording of a statement his client gave to police.

During that interview, Hiestand “confessed to shooting Briar in the back and then leaving him to die.” Judge Robert Altice Jr. wrote in the 3-0 ruling upholding the murder conviction.

Hiestand is being housed at the Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis, she has a projected release date in April 2061, when she would be 59.

Stephen (31) was found guilty of murder in March 2021 and received a 55-year sentence.

Stephen was head coach of the softball team at Fort Recovery (Ohio) High School and Hiestand was her assistant coach at the time of the murder.

A former player on the Fort Recovery team, Hannah L. Knapke (21), was arrested in the killing. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison last November after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

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