Teen Pleads Guilty To Murder Of Hammond Couple
CROWN POINT, Ind. (CBS) -- A Hammond teenager has pleaded guilty to the murders of an elderly Hammond couple, the parents of former CLTV talk show host Garrard McClendon.
The Lake County, Ind., Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Gregory Brooks Jr., 19, pleaded guilty to murder in the Oct. 19, 2009, slayings of Milton and Ruby McClendon at their Hammond home.
Brooks will be sentenced on Nov. 10 at 10:30 a.m. at the Lake County, Indiana courthouse
Prosecutors alleged Brooks and co-defendant Reo Jonta Thompson, 17, beat the McClendons; stole $50 in cash, a rifle, jewelry and other items; then locked the couple in a closet.
Brooks and Thompson, who claimed, they were with a third suspect named Kevin Langley, left the residence, then returned to "finish off" the McClendons, according to charging documents in the case.
Investigators have said they do not believe Kevin Langley is a real person.
The McClendons' bodies were found later that day about two miles from their home in a Calumet City forest preserve. Ruby McClendon was shot multiple times, while Milton McClendon was killed by a single shot to the head.
The McClendons are the parents of former CLTV talk show host Garrard McClendon.
Brooks and Thompson were seen by multiple witnesses riding in the McClendons' stolen Cadillac El Dorado in the days after the killings, and were captured on surveillance video selling jewelry stolen from the McClendons at a Hammond pawn shop.
The car was found abandoned on the Dan Ryan Expressway near Garfield Boulevard, and a witness described two males walking away from the car, which had run out of gas, prosecutors said.
