Nearly three years after a woman was shot and killed in southwest Indianapolis, a second suspect has been charged. Police now believe the woman was killed as part of a cross-state murder-for-hire operation.
Erica Pedroza was shot and killed on July 22, 2023, in her home on the 8600 block of Orchard Grove Lane. The woman was discovered dead in her bed from several gunshot wounds. She was 36.
Months after Pedroza’s death, authorities accused her husband, Seth Smith-Robinson, with murder. US Marshals apprehended Robinson in Tennessee and took him into custody. He was later extradited to Indianapolis for murder accusations.
At the time, IMPD investigators stated that all evidence pointed to Robinson as the primary murder suspect, and that he pulled the trigger. Police suspect the 35-year-old Indianapolis man paid an out-of-state offender to fly to Marion County and murder his wife.
Court documents identify the felon as Dalvin Carter, 34, an Arkansas resident who lives in Gould. Investigators now suspect Carter was the one who pulled the trigger and killed Pedroza.
According to police, Robinson planned to kill Pedroza after having an affair and getting another woman pregnant. He allegedly hired Carter to ride a bus from Little Rock and stage her murder as a robbery.
Robinson allegedly agreed to pay Carter $15,000 from Pedroza’s life insurance policy after the murder plot was carried out. According to reports, the two used burner phones to communicate and plan the murder, which was staged to look like a break-in.
Officers eventually tracked down Carter’s girlfriend, who revealed that he had been bragging about killing a woman named “Erica.” Carter allegedly showed people news articles about Pedroza’s death and stated that he had been paid to “take care of her.”
Carter allegedly became enraged with Robinson after returning to Arkansas, claiming that the husband had only paid him $500 of the $15,000 he was owed for murdering his wife. Police eventually discovered that Robinson and the lady with whom he was having an affair made many Cash App payments to Carter.
After gathering evidence at the scene, obtaining many crime tips, and speaking with numerous witnesses, IMPD officers determined that Carter, not Robinson, had pulled the shot and killed Pedroza.
Carter’s arrest warrant has subsequently been issued, and he faces a murder accusation. As of the publication of this report, he has not been processed into Marion County Jail.
According to online court records, Robinson’s murder case remains active. A bench trial in his case is set to begin on August 13, 2026, in front of Judge James Osborne.
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