Indy man gets 48 years for murder after fingerprint found on condom wrapper ties him to crime scene

INDIANAPOLIS — It took seven weeks for police to arrest 23-year-old James Wallace for the murder of 27-year-old Kamora Woods. The court case didn’t last much longer: Wallace was charged on Aug. 18 and pleaded guilty nine weeks later.

In June, Danielle Dehoniesto went to check on her daughter at her northwest side apartment on Maidstone Road after being unable to reach her. Inside, she uncovered a sight no mother should ever see: her daughter, half-naked, with a gunshot wound to the head.

“I will never get that image out of my head,” Dehoniesto said. “I touched her, I said, ‘Kamora.’ When I touched her, she was cold. She was stiff.”

A seven-week investigation eventually led to Wallace being arrested for the murder of Woods. Court documents said a fingerprint pulled from a condom wrapper helped police zero in on Wallace as the murder suspect.

Footage caught a man, later identified as Wallace, leaving the apartment complex. Investigators later learned Wallace stole Woods’ phone after the murder and pawned it. He’d later tell police he did this so Woods couldn’t call for help.

Wallace had a criminal history before the murder. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to armed robbery, criminal confinement and resisting law enforcement.

According to court documents, the victim in that incident told police that Wallace grabbed her breasts and kissed her on the lips while holding a gun to her during a robbery.

Court records show that Wallace pleaded guilty on Thursday to murdering Woods. He also pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing a firearm.

As part of his plea deal, Wallace was sentenced to 45 years in prison. An additional three years were added for a community corrections violation.