Evansville man gets 85 years in prison for murdering Delvin Mitchell

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — More than two years after Delvin Mitchell was shot to death in a car on Evansville's Southeast Side, his killer has been sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Justin Brewer of Evansville was sentenced Friday for his role in Mitchell's 2019 death.

A jury convicted Brewer, 33, of murder after a four-day trial in Vanderburgh Circuit Court in May, as well as sentence enhancements for using a firearm to commit a crime and being a habitual offender.

The investigation of the shooting lasted more than two years, said Jess Powers of the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office.

Magistrate Celia Pauli sentenced Brewer to 60 years for the murder plus 25 years for the additional factors.

His wife, Amber Brewer, 29, on Thursday pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal who committed murder and was sentenced to approximately one and a half years. Pauli dismissed a murder charge and a sentencing enhancement for using a firearm to commit a crime.

With credit for the time she served in the Vanderburgh County Jail between March 19, 2020, and May 26, 2021, the court determined that she had served the sentence, according to the sentencing order.

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Mitchell, 25, was found shot in the head inside a vehicle when police responded to a midnight 911 call about gunshots fired in the 2300 block of Frisse Avenue. 

According to an Evansville Police arrest affidavit, Amber Brewer took her husband to meet with Mitchell for an alleged drug deal that night.

Investigators believed Justin Brewer shot Mitchell with a gun that was later recovered from Pigeon Creek near Diamond Avenue. 

The Brewers fled the Evansville area after the shooting but were extradited to Evansville from Atlanta on federal weapons charges. 

In January 2020, Justin Brewer pleaded guilty to two federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

Amber Brewer pleaded guilty to a federal charge of providing a firearm to a prohibited person. Her sentence in the federal case also was for time served.

Correction: This article has been updated with Delvin Mitchell’s age at the time of his death.