City Councilman Facing Murder Charge Wins Re-Election

Robert “Coop” Battle, 3rd District Councilman for the city of East Chicago in Northwest Indiana, ran unopposed Tuesday night. He is being held on charges he shot Reimundo Camarillo Jr. to death on Oct. 12 in East Chicago.

He spent Election Day in the Lake County Jail, but received quite a bit of support from voters at the polls Tuesday, reports the Times of Northwest Indiana.

Through his former attorney, Battle has said he shot Camarillo, but only after he had a knife pulled on him.

“I believe what he said, that the man was attacking him and he was defending himself,” one voter who refused to be identified told The Times Tuesday.

Another voter a called Battle a “good guy” who created a summer program for the children in her neighborhood.

Battle also faces a federal drug charge stemming from a traffic stop in Indiana in which 73.22 grams of marijuana and more than $100,000 in cash was found.

His attorney, John Cantrell, said he is offended by people who are calling for his client to resign.

“He is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty,” Battle’s attorney, John Cantrell said. “If he is acquitted, he’ll keep his job.”

more via the Times of Northwest Indiana