Witnesses and fingerprints lead to arrest in deadly east side shooting
Fingerprints, clothes left with a witness and a Facebook Live video led to the arrest of a man in a deadly shooting on Indianapolis east side, according to police.
Officers were first called to the scene by a neighbor, who witnessed the shooting. Police found Melvin Hall Jr., 37, slumped over in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked in the 2400 block of Kitley Avenue.
Hall was pronounced dead at the scene in the Dec. 15 shooting that occurred around noon, according to police. Antonio Johnson, 27, was arrested Tuesday and preliminarily charged with murder in connection with Hall’s death, court documents show.
2022 Indianapolis homicides:The total is down. IMPD Chief Taylor hopes the trend continues in 2023.
Neighbor calls 911 after Melvin Hall Jr. shot and killed
A man living on Kitley Avenue stepped outside his home to see if the power was out in the neighborhood. He saw a vehicle driving backward down the street and parking along the curb.
A man exited the front passenger seat of the vehicle, walked away, then returned and opened the car door before shooting the driver, the witness told police in a probable cause affidavit for Johnson’s arrest.
The shooter fled south on foot and the witness provided police a description of him, which included a red hat and red shoes, the affidavit states.
Investigators found 10 fired cartridge casings inside the vehicle as well as fingerprints on the outside of the front passenger door frame. The prints were analyzed and identified as belonging to Johnson, according to IMPD.
Johnson leaves bag of clothes behind, witness tells police
On the day Hall was killed, a woman heard pounding at her door just before noon. Her cousin, Johnson, was there and came into her home, according to the affidavit.
She heard sirens and saw police drive by as Johnson acted erratically and stated he needed a ride out of the area, the woman told investigators.
Johnson told the woman that Hall was “trippin” and that he was “bleedin out,” according to the affidavit. At the time, Johnson was armed with a handgun, the woman stated.
The woman called another relative to arrange an Uber ride for Johnson. He changed clothes before his ride arrived and instructed the woman to burn the clothes he had been wearing and not to speak to police, according to the affidavit.
The woman gave police the clothing, which included a red hat and shoes, according to investigators.
Detectives found a Facebook Live video of Johnson from the day before the shooting, in which he is wearing the same red hat and shoes provided to police by the witness, the affidavit states.
An attorney for Johnson was not yet listed in online court records before publication of this story.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fingerprints, witnesses lead to homicide arrest: Indianapolis police
