INDIANAPOLIS — A month before an Indianapolis police officer shot Dreasjon Reed to death after a car and foot chase in May 2020, investigators say Reed committed two drive-by shootings on the northwest side.
On Friday, Evana Evans pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness and admitted she was driving the car while Reed fired shots into a northwest-side home in April 2020.
No one was injured, but records show children and others were present when the shots were fired.
"You drove somebody to a house knowing they were going to shoot it up," Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Marchal said. "That could have been a murder."
Marchal sentenced Evans, 23, to a year of home detention and two years of probation. He also gave her a three-year suspended prison sentence.
Marion County prosecutors kept Reed's connection to this case a secret for more than a year, until it was revealed in court on Friday.
Deputy Prosecutor Terrance Tharpe said that Evans drove Reed to the 4200 block of Mission Drive, where Reed fired at least eight rounds into a home on April 3, 2020. Evans also drove while Reed fired a gun at another house on the same block on April 5, 2020.
Evans and Reed planned the drive-bys together through a series of social media messages, according to court records.
"I need to send a message and I can't drive my car," Reed told Evans via Facebook Messenger.
"Can you bring a screwdriver?" Evans asked.
"Yup, take the plates off. I already kno(w)," Reed responded.
The next day, Evans and Reed discussed the shooting in more messages.
"That was so exciting," Evans said in a message sent April 4, 2020. "I was amazed at the cases coming down my windshield. That (expletive) played in slow motion for me."
Reed messaged back: "Lol, it was in fast motion for me. I didn't even see the bullets. All I seen was the little girl and avoiding her."
"Lol," Evans messaged Reed. "It was just so exciting for me. idk (I don't know) how to explain it."
The homeowner and his two daughters dove for cover when the shots were fired, according to the affidavit.
"There were two children on that porch when she drove Mr. Reed to that shooting," Indiana State Police Lt. Jeff Hearon told WRTV outside of court. "As far as the placement of the rounds, they were very close to the children."
Investigators found eight shell casing at the drive-by scene. Markings on those shells matched the gun Reed carried on the day he was killed by police, investigators say.
Evans has no prior criminal record. She declined to speak to WRTV as she left court Friday with a young child. The judge ordered her to report to authorities and begin serving her sentence on home detention.
Defense lawyer Will Garver Haseman said Friday that Evans accepts responsibility and understands now how serious her actions were.
Haseman described Evans as a love-struck young woman following the lead of a dangerous man.
"When this occurred she was a new mother. She was caught up, infatuated with Dreasjon Reed," Haseman said. "She wanted to be in a relationship with him."
Just weeks after these shootings, Reed was broadcasting on Facebook Live while he led metropolitan police on a car and foot chase. Facebook Live captured the sound of the bullets that killed Reed on May 6, 2020.
Weeks later, the nation was outraged over video of police in Minnesota killing George Floyd by pressing a knee to the handcuffed man's neck.
Reed's death, along with Floyd's, led to weeks of unrest and protests in Indianapolis, some of which led to violence and looting downtown.
State Police said Reed had a gun in his waistband when he ran from police. Reed, police said, used that gun to fire two shots at the officer chasing him.
IMPD officer Dejoure Mercer fired 13 shots, killing Reed. A special prosecutor and grand jury later cleared Mercer of any criminal charges in Reed's death.
Reed's family disputes the police account of what happened. They have filed a civil lawsuit against the city, IMPD and others. WRTV asked attorneys for Reed's mother for comment Friday.
"I think Mr. Dreasjon Reed affected quite a few people's lives," Hearon said, "(including) the officers that ultimately were involved in the shooting of him (and) the community that ultimately was given misinformation and reacted in some cases in a violent way."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
