JACKSON COUNTY, Ind. — Court documents reveal details into the first murder case filed in Jackson County this year, including that a four-year-old child was inside the home when it happened.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Brady Parrish, 25, with charges filed more than ten months after the death of Lisha Branum, 58.
The arrest came after investigators conducted multiple interviews with the two men who were in the car that dropped Parrish off that fateful day.
One was a friend of Parrish’s who said Parrish reached out to ask for a ride, and he agreed to take him “wherever he needed to go.”
On November 8, 2021, Parrish’s friend and a mutual friend showed up to give Parrish a lift.
Both men say when Parrish got into the car, he was carrying a black duffel bag. He then instructed them to take him to a “buddy’s house” way out in the country, according to court documents.
As they got closer to the house, the men say Parrish told them to drop him off close to a home on County Road 450 West and wait for him inside the car.
Both men said Parrish instructed them to not pull directly up to the driveway but drop him off a little farther down the road, then drive up another driveway, turn around and come back for him.
The men say Parrish took the duffel bag into the home with him and was inside the residence for around one to two minutes before he came back.
The mutual friend told investigators he heard “two gunshots” while Parrish was in the home. Parrish’s friend claimed Parrish was “sweating bullets” when he got back in the car.
Parrish’s friend initially told investigators he and the mutual friend never saw what was inside the duffel bag although he estimated the bag was big enough to hold a shotgun. In a follow-up interview, court documents state Parrish’s friend said Parrish pulled the shotgun out of the duffel bag after he got back in the car.
Parrish’s later told investigators he also heard two gunshots but thought Parrish robbed someone inside and shot up in the air.
“[Redacted] said that he knew something bad had happened but didn’t know that Brady had shot and killed someone.”
Probable cause affidavit
On November 10, two days after the men say they took Parrish to the home on County Road 450 West, Lisha Branum’s body was discovered by a family member. Detectives say she was shot in the back.
According to court documents, Branum was watching a four-year-old child when she was killed.
In late August of 2022, investigators in Indiana located Parrish in Kansas City, Missouri and worked with police there to have Parrish arrested on a murder warrant.
He was extradited and then transferred back to the Jackson County Jail in Indiana on September 20.
“This case is an example of excellent and diligent police work, leading to the identification and arrest of a suspect,” said Sheriff Rick Meyer. “It has been a lengthy and complex investigation and our officers deserve all the credit for their hard work.”
Investigators have not released any information about a motive or the relationship between Parrish and the victim.
