Murder Suspect Arrested Two Weeks After Poker Player Found Dead in Home
An arrest has been made for the death of poker player James "Matt" Lushin, who was found dead in his Indiana home two weeks ago.
Lushin, 47, a beloved member of the Indianapolis poker community known for his sense of humor, passed away on March 12. Police initially ruled the death "suspicious" before later classifying it as a homicide.
According to a press release from the Westfield Police Department, Ronald Dewayne Brown Jr. was arrested on March 27 and charged with murder. He's currently booked in the Hamilton County Jail without bond and has yet to appear in court.
Lushin, who cashed in a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event just two weeks before he passed away, had over $500,000 in The Hendon Mob live tournament cashes. He was a regular in local card rooms and tournaments, and even traveled the world last year to play poker, earning WSOPC and PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) cashes in the Netherlands and Spain. But he was also a successful real estate investor, his main source of income.
Late Poker Player's Friend Crushes High Rollers in His Honor
Lushin's close friend, Ben Grise, played some PGT high rollers with a heavy heart earlier this month in Las Vegas. He'd already reached one final table in a $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament, a second-place finish for $136,500, before getting the tragic news.
Grise returned to the PokerGO Studio the following day having to fight back his emotions and still managed to get heads-up in consecutive days. He finished in second place again for $136,500 in another $10k.
Friends and family paid respect to the late poker player at a Mass of Christian Burial on March 20 at the Arc Catholic Church in Kokomo Indiana. Grise was quoted in an obituary memorializing his friend.
“You always knew you could hang out with him, and he’d put a smile on your face," Grise said of Lushin.
Lushin, as the obituary reads, was known as an "outstanding father" to his son, Leighton. He "exceeded in fatherhood and strived to be a model parent."
Police have not released further details about the suspect, including his connection to the victim.
*Feature image courtesy of Hamilton County Jail.
