Authorities say a 23-year-old Greenville man shot his father and stepfather inside a Floyd County home after a chaotic early morning confrontation.
NEW ALBANY, IN — A 23-year-old southern Indiana man accused of fatally shooting his father and stepfather inside a family home after a night of drinking has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers now say they plan to pursue an insanity defense in the case.
Prosecutors have accused Easton Goode of killing Kelly Goode, 55, and Bradley Butler, 53, during an early morning disturbance on March 5 at a home on Georgetown Greenville Road in Greenville. The allegations in court records describe a fast-moving series of fights, a call for help from family members and gunfire inside the house. The case now sits at a key early stage, with murder charges filed, a defense request tied to Goode’s mental condition and close attention on what investigators say happened inside the home.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the episode began around 4:45 a.m. when Goode’s mother, Brandi Butler, found her son drunk, lying on his bedroom floor and vomiting. She told police she called for her husband, Bradley Butler, to help get him into bed. Investigators said a fight then broke out between Goode and Butler, though Brandi Butler told officers the two later hugged and appeared to calm down. The affidavit says Goode later went downstairs and stayed in a first-floor bathroom for a period of time. When he came out, Brandi Butler told police, he was naked from the waist down and covered in feces. Another struggle followed. Police said family members again got him into a bedroom and left him there, hoping he would fall asleep.
Brandi Butler then called Kelly Goode, her former husband and Easton Goode’s father, asking him to come to the house and take their son away so he could sober up, according to investigators. Kelly Goode arrived with a family friend. By then, the affidavit says, Easton Goode was standing in the hallway holding a .40-caliber Taurus pistol that Brandi Butler said belonged to Bradley Butler. She told police she had earlier made sure the gun was stored inside a small safe in the bedroom. Investigators said no one in the home realized at first that Easton Goode had the weapon in his hand. When Kelly Goode approached his son, police said, Easton Goode shot him. Brandi Butler then told officers that her husband, Bradley Butler, was shot while sitting on the couch. The mother and the family friend ran from the house. The affidavit says Brandi Butler later realized bullets had gone through her shirt, underscoring how close she was to the gunfire.
Deputies were called to the home at about 5:45 a.m. in the 6700 block of Georgetown Greenville Road and found both men dead from gunshot wounds, according to sheriff’s office statements and court filings. Investigators said Goode was taken into custody after deputies used a flash-bang device during the arrest. The affidavit says he later admitted shooting both men. Prosecutors charged him with two counts of murder and two counts of criminal recklessness. The criminal recklessness counts reflect allegations that shots were fired inside an occupied house while other people were nearby. Court records and local reports also point to an earlier criminal case from 2023 in which Goode was charged with felony battery causing serious bodily injury after punching an autistic friend and fracturing the person’s jaw in five places. Records cited in local coverage say he pleaded guilty in that case, apologized and served one day in jail. That earlier case is not part of the homicide charges, but it adds background that prosecutors, defense lawyers and the court may have to weigh as the new case moves ahead.
The first court hearings focused less on the underlying allegations than on Goode’s condition and the path the case might take. At an appearance on March 6, defense attorney Evan Bardach asked for a mental health evaluation and told the judge his client appeared to have multiple injuries. Bardach said in court, “Given the circumstances, that’s the appropriate thing to do.” At that point, prosecutors were still finalizing the probable cause affidavit, and the state said it expected to bring two murder charges. By March 9, after the affidavit became public, Goode appeared in court again. Local reports said his attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. On March 12, another filing pushed the defense posture further. According to court documents cited in local coverage, Goode’s lawyers filed notice that they plan to claim insanity. That does not decide the case, and it does not amount to a finding by the court. It signals that defense lawyers intend to argue his mental state at the time of the shootings will be central to the case.
The scene described in the affidavit is deeply intimate and chaotic, with most of the key details coming from family members who were inside the house. Brandi Butler’s account places all three men in a home where an effort to calm an intoxicated son and stepson gave way to repeated violence. The record shows family members trying to move him to bed, separate him from a stepfather and call his father to take him away. Kelly Goode, according to the affidavit, came to the house as someone asked to help. Instead, investigators say, he and Bradley Butler were shot within moments of his arrival. Those details leave major questions that have not yet been answered in public court filings, including how Goode got access to the pistol, what role alcohol or any other impairment may have played and what medical or psychiatric evidence may be presented later. For now, the affidavit offers the prosecution’s narrative, while the defense is pointing toward mental health and legal insanity as the framework for its response.
The case remains in its early court phase, with Goode held in the Floyd County Jail as prosecutors pursue the murder and criminal recklessness counts. The insanity notice means the court can expect additional litigation over evaluations, expert findings and whether Goode was able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions under Indiana law. Prosecutors still bear the burden of proving the killings beyond a reasonable doubt. Defense lawyers, meanwhile, appear set to challenge the case through both factual disputes and mental state evidence. The next major developments are likely to come through further hearings, any court-ordered examinations and filings that spell out how each side plans to present the events of March 5. Until then, the deaths of Kelly Goode and Bradley Butler remain both a criminal prosecution and a family tragedy unfolding in public view.
As of Thursday, March 12, the charges were still pending and the defense had formally signaled an insanity claim, setting up the next round of hearings in Floyd County as the court decides how the case will proceed.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.