FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - A 38-year-old man learned his punishment this week for fatally shooting a homeless woman in New Haven in January.

Last month, a jury found Jonathon Mattix guilty of murder and a sentencing enhancement for using a gun in the slaying of 54-year-old Dawn Kovach, a homeless woman who was found dead in her tent in New Haven.

On Monday, Judge G. David Laur sentenced him to 80 years in prison for the slaying.

Mattix told multiple people he killed Kovach, witnesses told police. When police interviewed him, Mattix’s story changed several times, with him eventually claiming he killed her in self-defense.

See Full Page