Black CSI Student Put Hit on Ex-Husband

A woman who thought she was hiring someone to kill her ex-husband gave an undercover police officer $3,000, a weapon and pictures to do the job, authorities said.

D'antonette Burns, 34, (above) was arrested Monday on a preliminary felony charge of conspiracy to commit murder, Indianapolis police said.

Burns, a forensic science student and full-time employee at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, was studying to be a crime scene investigator, WRTV-TV in Indianapolis reported.

An undercover investigator met Burns Aug. 6 after hearing that she wanted to hire someone for a killing, police said.

Over seven weeks, she met with the officer three times, making a $1,500 down payment and giving him a handgun and pictures of her ex-husband, Robert Mays, 33, police said.

Burns asked the undercover officer to kill her ex-husband and also provided pictures of his home and pictures of and directions to his workplace, police said. She also told the undercover officer, she would tell him how to cover his tracks because she was an expert in forensics.

On Monday, the undercover officer met with Burns and falsely told her he had killed her ex-spouse. She then paid him a second $1,500 installment, and she was arrested, according to police.

Burns and Mays have a 3-year-old child. Police said they think their intervention saved Mays' life.

"She was obviously serious. She had the money. She had the weapon," said Indianapolis Metro police Sgt. Paul Thompson. "She had a special type of ammunition known to law enforcement as particularly devastating 'Black Talon' ammunition, and she definitely meant business."

Students on IUPUI's campus were shocked to hear of the arrest.

"I think it's pretty surprising just because the science students I know are fairly professional," said Barbara Janiak. "We're an ethical group of aspiring scientists."

Burns was being held without bond Monday night.
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