Ind. Teen's Shooting Death Part Of Gang Initiation, Four Charged
CROWN POINT, Ind. (STMW) -- Four people have been charged with murder and criminal gang activity in connection with the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy in Merrillville last week.
Kevin Dale Brown, 18, Merrillville; Matthew Knight, 16, of Merrillville; and Anthony Paul Addison Jr., 22, and Joshua Nathaniel Addison, 21, who list addresses in Gary and Merrillville, were charged Saturday in Lake Superior Court in the death of Depree Mims.
Mims was shot in the head at about 8:35 p.m. Wednesday at his home in the 7500 block of Marshall Street. The teen was hit by one of six gunshots fired at the home as he and his family were settling in to watch a movie in the living room.
Mims' mother had asked Depree to get another blanket for the other children. As he stood up to get the blanket, the teen's mother said she heard a loud bang from the front window and saw her son on the floor on front of the TV, bleeding from the head.
Depree Mims was taken to Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus. He died at 11:54 p.m. Friday at University of Chicago Hospital.
A witness told police the shooting was a gang initiation. Brown wanted to join the gang that the Addison brothers belonged to, authorities allege. Joshua Addison directed Brown to shoot into the house as part of a gang initiation, the probable cause affidavit states.
The brothers picked up Knight and Brown, drove to the Marshall Street address and Brown fired several shots into the home before they fled in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo to the Addison residence in the 3900 block of Buchanan Street in Gary, court records state.
Members of the Northwest Regional SWAT team executed the search warrant at the Addison residence and arrested the Addison brothers and third person, who was later released. All three denied involvement in the case. The Addison brothers told police they were at their father's house in the 7100 block of Polk Court around the time of the shooting.
A witness contacted Merrillville police and said that Brown told the witness, "me and my friends just shot and killed a kid yesterday," the probable cause affidavit states. When asked where the shooting occurred, Brown pointed toward Marshall Street.
Brown's Facebook account showed him holding what the witness said was a .45-caliber pistol. On Friday, the photo had been removed from Brown's Facebook page.
Police also obtained search warrants for Brown's residence in the 2900 block of West 75th Lane, Merrillville, and for Knight's residence in the 7500 block of Independence Street, Merrillville.
Police found six spent shell casings in the street directly in front of the house, a black winter hat in the middle of the lawn, and a key and key chain on the south side of the lawn.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
