INDIANAPOLIS — A 30-year-old father of two was shot to death on Indy’s near southeast side over the weekend.
Multiple bullets shattered the driver’s side window of the victim’s Cadillac. The front end was also damaged when the driver instinctively hit the gas after being shot on Tindall Street near Troy Avenue early Sunday morning.
After being shot, the victim slammed into at least two cars on the street before he came to a stop.
“He was trying to get away because he smacked multiple cars back and forth, putting the car in reverse and drive,” said the victim’s cousin, Aunyae Ray.
Aunyae Ray described her cousin who died on scene, 30-year-old James McDowell, as the life of the party and a father of two children.
“This baby was walking around with his daddy’s picture yesterday. It broke my heart. He shouldn’t have to live without his daddy,” said Ray. “These kids need their fathers and they’re being taken away. It’s not okay.”
Other family members agreed.
“I’m going to miss him dearly and we need to stop all this violence,” said the victim’s aunt, Kisha Barton. “It’s sad.”
So far police have not shared any suspect information and the family says they’re not sure what may have motivated the killing, which took place in front of the victim’s own home.
“He lived here,” said Barton. “It happened right in front of his house. We have to look at this every day.”
Police reports show McDowell was one of three people wounded in a triple shooting on the same street in October 2020. No one was ever charged in that case.
McDowell’s family said they just hope his murder doesn’t also go unsolved.
“They really took a major part of our family,” said Ray. “Y’all are hurting the family. You’re not hurting the person. You’re hurting the family. We have to live without this person.”
So far no arrests have been made in this case.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call IMPD Detective Michael Wright at (317) 327-3475 or e-mail the detective at Michael.Wright@indy.gov. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477.
