Aaron C. Hall

Aaron "Shorty" C. Hall was an allegedly gay 35-year old man who died during or shortly after being beaten for hours allegedly by two teenaged males. "Shorty" Hall has been called the Matthew Shepard of Indiana.

Life
Hall was born in Seymour, Indiana, USA. He had one daughter. Hall lived in Crothersville, Indiana, USA at the time of his death.

Death
Aaron Hall was last seen on April 12, 2007. Police accounts from interviews from witnesses were reported, with graphic details, by the Crothersville Times.

Coleman King (age 18) told police that he, Gray, and Hendricks picked up Hall as they drove to Gray's home from a liquor store. Police say Hall, Gray and King were drinking at the Gray residence when a fight developed. Gray told police that "Hall grabbed King in the groin" and asked "whether King had homosexual tendencies." King and Gray then allegedly beat Hall.

The crime was reported to police by John Hodge, who claimed that he received a photo on his cell phone from Garrett Gray on April 12. Hodge said the photo showed Garrett Gray (age 19), Coleman King (age 18), and a beaten Hall. Jamie Hendricks (age 21) allegedly called Hodge a few minutes later and said, "They're beatin' the hell out of that guy."

Hendricks said this incident went on for several hours. King allegedly hit Hall with his boots at least 75 times. Hall was then allegedly driven in Gray's pickup to a farm lane where Hall was left in the ditch. Gray admitted that during the drive, he asked Hall "if he wanted to die tonight."

King told police that when they returned to Gray's home, Gray said that they had to kill Hall or they would go to jail. King said Gray grabbed a shotgun when they went back to the house. The postmortem exam included in the affidavit did not indicate whether Hall's body had been shot.

Gray, Hodge, and Hendricks allegedly went back to the ditch on April 23 to retrieve the new camouflage coat that Hall had been wearing. After finding Hall's dead, naked, and beaten body, they allegedly took Hall's body back to Gray's garage (the date of this is not clear).

Police discovered Hall's body, wrapped in a tarp in the garage at the residence of Gray, on April 22.

As of May 2, 2007, Gray and King were being held without bond on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter in the Jackson County Jail. Gray's trial date was set for October 16. King's trial date was set for October 23. Hendricks was charged with assisting a criminal act.

Media and Blog Attention
Hall's murder was reported by the local paper, the Crothersville Times. The story has since been followed by blogs like Daily Kos and Huffington Post and a by a local paper in Indiana, the Bloomington Alternative.

Murder in Indiana: “Gay Panic” - A License to Kill (06/29/2007) By H.Lukas Green and Jody May-Chang, PrideDEPOT.com

Murder in Indiana: Hate Crime - After the Fact (06/29/2007) By H.Lukas Green and Jody May-Chang, PrideDEPOT.com

Hate Crimes Legislation
Hall's family calls his murder a hate crime. Indiana is one of only five US states without hate crimes legislation.