A 74-year-old Evansville realtor was murdered in her own home by a violent felon police never knew was free. That deadly communication failure cost Susan Haynie her life, and Indiana is making sure it never costs another family theirs.

On Monday, May 11, Indiana Governor Mike Braun and State Rep. Tim O’Brien will hold a ceremonial signing of House Enrolled Act 1250 in Evansville. The law bearing Susan Haynie’s name takes effect July 1 and fundamentally changes how Indiana handles the release of dangerous offenders.

A Ceremony Evansville Has Been Waiting For

The ceremonial signing takes place at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Crescent Room at the Easterseals Early Learning Center, located at 621 South Cullen Avenue in Evansville.

Governor Braun and Rep. O’Brien will be joined by Evansville Mayor Stephanie Taylor and Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers. Susan Haynie’s family members and close friends will also be present to witness the moment in person.

Organizers describe the event as both a formal legislative milestone and a moment of genuine remembrance. Though Braun officially signed the bill into law in early March 2026, Monday’s ceremony brings that moment home to the community where Susan lived, worked, and was taken far too soon.

The Murder That Exposed a Fatal System Gap

Susan Haynie was found dead in the basement of her Gum Street home on August 27, 2025, discovered by a friend who had gone to check on her.

She had spent 28 years helping Evansville families find their place to call home. At F.C. Tucker Emge, she guided more than 2,000 families through the process of buying and selling properties and was described by colleagues as someone who showed up for people in every sense of the word.

Days after her death, police arrested 35-year-old Jamerus Parkman and charged him with her murder. DNA evidence linked him directly to the crime scene. According to investigators, Parkman entered through an unlocked door, strangled Haynie, and dragged her to the basement of her home.

“A constituent, a community leader, a dear friend of mine, Susan was murdered last fall by a serious violent offender who had been released into our community.” Rep. Tim O’Brien, addressing the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee

What made her death even more devastating was what investigators uncovered about Parkman’s background.

• In 2012, Parkman was sentenced to 35 years in prison for nine counts of burglary, one count of robbery, and two counts of attempted rape
• Six of those nine burglaries happened during nighttime hours while residents were home
• He served roughly 12 to 13 years before being released on parole
• He was freed just six months before Haynie’s murder
• The Evansville Police Department was never notified of his release or his presence in the city
• Parkman is currently held without bond and faces a potential sentence of life without parole

Local law enforcement had no idea Parkman was back in Evansville. That critical gap is what turned a community’s grief into a legislative fight.

What Susan’s Law Actually Does for Victims

House Enrolled Act 1250, widely referred to as “Susan’s Law,” closes the communication breakdown between Indiana’s Department of Correction and local communities.

The law requires the Indiana Department of Correction to notify law enforcement and prosecutors at least seven days before releasing a serious violent felon. That notification must reach the sheriff, prosecuting attorney, and chief of police in both the county where the offender will live and the county where the original crime was committed.

Courts and prosecutors are then required to inform victims through Indiana’s Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification system, known as SAVIN. More than two dozen offenses qualify as “serious violent felonies” under Indiana law, including murder, rape, kidnapping, and child molesting.

Rep. O’Brien was clear about the bill’s purpose. “This bill does not increase sentences or impose any new penalties,” he said. “It simply improves communication, accountability and awareness, and these are tools that can save lives.”

Prosecutor Moers was equally blunt about the gap that existed before the law. “I have run into a lot of victims that were never notified about the SAVIN system,” she said. “A lot of the holding agencies within our state have no accountability currently.”

A Community United Behind Susan’s Name

From the moment Rep. O’Brien introduced the bill, public support was immediate and overwhelming.

A Change.org petition backing HB 1250 gathered more than 2,000 signatures in just over a week. The Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners passed a formal resolution supporting it. Neighbors in Haynie’s own Vann Park neighborhood rallied behind the cause.

Haynie’s family joined forces with other victims of Parkman’s alleged crimes to form the “Justice for Susan Committee,” working directly with O’Brien as he crafted the legislation. The bill passed the Indiana House 94 to 0 and sailed through the Senate with unanimous approval. Bipartisan agreement that unified was rare at any level of government.

Former Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, a close friend of the Haynie family, captured the spirit of the movement simply. “Pulling people together like this is a way to address that loss,” he said. “On one hand, it helps the greater good. That is the entire state.”

Susan’s sons, Ken Haynie III and Matt Haynie, released a joint statement that said everything. “It won’t undo what happened to our mother, but it can help prevent another family from receiving the call we received.”

The law’s real-world relevance became clear almost immediately after it was signed. In early 2026, another violent offender was released from an Evansville-area prison without notifying local prosecutors. Prosecutor Moers used the case publicly to underscore exactly why HEA 1250 was not just symbolic. It was necessary.

Susan Haynie spent nearly three decades helping families find safety and comfort in a place called home. The cruelest truth is that she lost her life in hers. But from that unimaginable grief, her community fought back with a law that now stands to protect hundreds of future victims across all of Indiana. As family, friends, and officials gather Monday to honor her name one more time, it is impossible not to feel the weight of what she left behind and the lives her story may yet save. What are your thoughts on Indiana’s new victim notification law? Share your opinion in the comments below.