INDIANAPOLIS — A 14-year-old old girl and 19-year-old man have been arrested and preliminarily charged in connection with the homicide death of 15-year-old Jeremiah Lewis on June 18.
Officers found Lewis shot inside a vehicle in the 2000 block of Lohr Drive around 9:45 a.m.
He died where he was found.
Investigators found Lewis was driving near Lohr Drive and Lohr Waywhen he was shot. He then drove and struck a mailbox and a vehicle parked in a driveway a short distance away.
On Wednesday, the two suspects were taken into custody. WRTV will not name them until formal charges are filed.
According to police documents, the man and girl were seen on a resident's home security camera footage hanging out and walking around trees and bushes near the crime scene. The female could be seen on her phone while the man could be seen holding a "pistol style AR" under his jacket.
Police say when Lewis drove by, the girl could be heard in the footage yelling "that's him right there in the red car" before multiple shots were fired.
According to police, the girl admitted to asking Lewis to sell her marijuana the day of the shooting. When he agreed, she told him to meet her at the crime scene.
When Lewis pulled up, the 19-year-old knocked on the window to rob him. The girl told police the man shot Lewis after he pulled a gun on them, according to police documents.
Police say no gun was found on Lewis at the scene and the suspects did not get into the vehicle after it crashed.
Detectives also say the 19-year-old was on GPS monitoring. His ankle bracelet puts him at the scene of the murder.
“I am grateful to the detectives who worked hard to make these arrests so quickly and to the members of our community who cooperated with the investigation,” said Chief Randal Taylor. “At the same time, I am devastated there is a 15-year-old who was murdered, there are two other teens whose lives will be changed forever, and there are three families whose lives are in chaos over this incident. We can and must do better as a community to help guide our children and keep tragedies like this from happening.”
Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact IMPD Homicide detective Cristopher Edwards at Christopher.edwards@indy.gov, call 317-327-3475, or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 262-TIPS.
