THE HOVEY STREET MURDERS – A TIMELINE

Community devastated by quadruple murder

Posted:     Jan 15, 2008

Updated:  Jan 21, 2008

Gina Hunt and Andrea Yarrell (pictured) died while holding their babies.
Gina Hunt and Andrea Yarrell (pictured) died while holding their babies.
Yolanda French is searching for answers.
Yolanda French is searching for answers.
Rev. Malachi Walker
Rev. Malachi Walker
Gina Hunt
Gina Hunt
Jordan Hunt
Jordan Hunt
 

Indianapolis – Family, friends and neighbors are searching for answers after the overnight killing of two women and their children.Police say someone shot and killed Gina Hunt and Andrea Yarrell, both 24, as well as Hunt’s infant son, Jordan, and Andrea’s four-month-old daughter Charlii. Hunt, Yarrell and Hunt’s son died at the scene. Charlii Yarrell was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police believe the babies were shot in their mother’s arms.The brutal killings have devastated the community. Friends and family gathered in the streets shortly after the police arrived, wondering who would commit such an act. Mayor Greg Ballard expressed concern for the community, saying public safety needs to be a priority.”Tragedies like this remind us that we are not where we need to be as a city,” Ballard said. “When a child can be shot in his mother’s arms we must all decide, no matter what our differences are, we must join together and we can do better. This city must do better in public safety.”Yolanda French says she doesn’t know what her family will do without Gina Hunt, her cousin, or her little boy Jordan.”I hope the people know who did this, if they please just turn them people in. They don’t deserve to be free because my cousin don’t deserve to be dead and those babies didn’t have a chance to even live,” said French tearfully.The Great Commission Church of God opened its doors to grieving family and friends Tuesday.The reverend says the neighborhood has seen its share of drug problems and thefts but never a murder like this one.”The whole entire community needs strength. Throughout the summer we walk these streets often in the evening time – we’ll just go up to people and pray with them,” said Rev. Malachi Walker.Yolanda French says she has been praying all day for her family and a stop to violence against children in this city.”TaJanay didn’t deserve it. My [relatives] don’t deserve it today and don’t nobody else deserves it either,” she said. French was referring to TaJanay Bailey, a three-year-old who died of suspected abuse last year. Her mother and boyfriend have been charged in the girl’s death.French says Gina Hunt left two other children behind. She says they are a close-knit family and will rely on each other to get through this difficult time.

A prayer vigil is set for 5:00 pm at the Great Commission Church of God.

 

 

 

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7747046

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/15/four.dead.ap/index.html

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Family and police look for answers, information

Jan 22, 2008

David MacAnally/Eyewitness NewsNortheast Indianapolis – Police keep searching for suspects in Monday night’s quadruple homicide, while family, friends and neighbors continue to search for answers.At the victims’ house, neighbors and police watch and wait.One woman said she’s “really scared to sleep in my home. That’s just how bad it is.”A teddy bear shrine has grown on the front steps of the house where 24-year-old Gina Hunt and her 23-month-old son Jordan were shot along with 24-year-old Andrea Yarrell with her 4-month-old daughter Charlii. The children died in their mother’s arms.”It’s a sad thing,” another neighbor said. “Oh my God, hurry up and get these people.”At Andrea Yarrell’s parents’ house, friend Carl Owens said, “It’s really beyond comprehension.””The baby had nothing to do with it, an innocent child. And for the mother, just to take someone’s life is just terrible,” said Faye Stott, a friend of one of the victims.For the victims, it had to be a horrible repeat of history. Just three months ago, two gunmen targeted the same home on Hovey Street. Hunt told police at the time “she was pleading for the life of everyone in the house.”One gunman threatened to kill them if they didn’t tell them where they’d find a man they were looking for. Using a victim’s scarf, the gunmen covered up a child’s face, but did not hurt the child. That child was not one of Monday’s victims.The attackers left. The man they were looking for, the man who monitored security cameras mounted around the victim’s house, told police then the men may have wanted him because he was close to a homicide victim.A team of officers and detectives will work straight through another night on this case. They don’t want to lose a moment as they track the suspects. Two men Sheriff Frank Anderson promised will be hunted down “like dogs.”

It’s unclear if there’s any connection between Monday night’s attack and the September home invasion. There was also a breakin at the house in August when $5,000 worth of items were taken.

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7747046

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Two children among four killed in overnight shooting

Posted:  Jan 14, 2008 10:20 PM CST

Updated:Jan 21, 2008 11:25 AM CST

Four people died in a shooting on Hovey St. late Monday.
Four people died in a shooting on Hovey St. late Monday.
Investigators enter the home where the shootings occurred.
Investigators enter the home where the shootings occurred.
An IMPD officer comforts a woman at the shooting scene.
An IMPD officer comforts a woman at the shooting scene.
Metro Police officers descended quickly on the scene.
Metro Police officers descended quickly on the scene.
Metro Police Chief Michael Spears arrived on the scene out of uniform to make sure officers had all necessary resources available to them.
Metro Police Chief Michael Spears arrived on the scene out of uniform to make sure officers had all necessary resources available to them.
 

Indianapolis – Nearly 90 investigators are

 

 

Indianapolis – Nearly 90 investigators are working to determine who was involved in a brutal overnight killing that left two women and their infant children dead.It happened on the city’s near northeast side at 33rd and Hovey Streets.Police say Gina Hunt and Andrea Yarrell, both 24, and Hunt’s 23-month-old son Jordan, died at the scene. Charlii Yarrell, a four-month-old baby girl, was pronounced dead at 1:33 a.m. after being transported in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to Methodist Hospital.Police are certain that the babies were shot in their mothers’ arms. They found a small amount of marijuana, guns and a safe in the home and believe the suspects, two men, fled on foot.”I don’t know what would possess anyone to shoot children,” said IMPD Sergeant Paul Thompson at the scene. “I can’t figure it out.”Investigators from the violent crimes unit are working the case. They have set up a mobile command center set up outside the crime scene to offer some security and also to give people a way to share even the slightest information about possible suspects. Police are currently tracking down persons of interest in the case.”This is something we will not accept in this community. Right now, we have 80 to 90 investigators working on this,” said Assistant Chief of Police Eva Tally-Sanders.Sheriff Frank Anderson did not mince words during an 11:00 am press conference.”Whoever is responsible for this, we are gonna trap you like dogs. I’d like to say some other words that would not be appropriate for me to say at this time. We are not gonna stop until we find you and put you in a cage where you belong,” said Anderson. He added, “There’s a special place in hell for you. We’re gonna see that you get there.”Police want to hear from the public. Call 262-TIPS with any information related to this case.”Anybody that has any information whatsoever about this crime we want you to step forward,” Anderson said. “We need you to step forward.”Officers had initially responded to a report of a break-in on the 3200 block of Hovey Street which proved to be an incorrect address. A few minutes later, they received a follow-up call about a person shot at 3283 Hovey. When they arrived, they found the four victims inside the home, all suffering from gunshot wounds.

Metro Police Chief Michael Spears arrived on the scene to make sure officers had all necessary resources available to them.

“This is an extremely disturbing incident for our police department, for all the citizens of our city,” Chief Spears said, out of uniform and struggling to find the words to explain how this could happen. “This is just the kind of inexplicable violence that just rocks our city to the core. I assure you we are doing everything in our power and authority to bring a very quick resolution to this matter.”

Witnesses say that two males were seen running north on Hovey Street around the time of the crime and police collected evidence north of the house where the shooting took place, including guns possibly discarded by the suspects as they fled. When daylight came upon the scene, police found gun shells on the side of the house.

“We are going to do everything we can to bring these suspects into custody very quickly,” Spears said. “It is the worst day in the life of many of these people that have been affected by this brutal act of violence.”

Mayor Greg Ballard spoke Tuesday, saying he understands the anger the community feels over the shooting, but hopes people don’t let their anger get the best of them.

“I want the citizens to really maintain their sense of outrage. That’s what I want them to do,” he said. “It must be channeled appropriately. We understand that, but we can’t forget these things happen.”

Family members quickly rushed to the scene, and more officers were called in to assist in crowd control. Other officers offered comfort to distraught friends and family as snow fell on the scene.

The Great Commission Church of God on North Arsenal Avenue opened its doors to let families of the victims get out of the cold, and members of the IMPD chaplain’s office were on hand to lend assistance.

The church is holding a prayer vigil for the victims of the shooting Tuesday at 5 p.m.

This story compiled from reports by Richard Essex and Lynsay Clutter.

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7624400

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Murder victim’s boyfriend heard shooting over phone

Jan 21, 2008

Gene Boyd and Andrea Yarrell
Gene Boyd and Andrea Yarrell
Gina Hunt with her son, Jordan.
Gina Hunt with her son, Jordan.
Mourners left stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial in front of the home.
Mourners left stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial in front of the home.
Wyomi Rollins left an angel on the steps of the home.
Wyomi Rollins left an angel on the steps of the home.
 

 

Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness NewsNortheast Indianapolis – The mother of a murder victim’s boyfriend says her son heard the shooting over a phone call.”He heard a big bang. The phone hung up, he dialed right back,” said Annie Boyd. Her son, Gene, was on the phone with 24-year-old Andrea Yarrell, when attackers broke through her front door.”When she hit the talk button, he shot her,” Annie Boyd said. “After that, he heard Gina holler, ‘Them are my babies!’ The phone went dead.”Gina Hunt and her son Jordan were shot and killed alongside Yarrell and her four-month-old daughter Charlii.Hunt’s cousin, Yolanda French, is one of many friends and relatives who rushed to the crime scene and are still looking for answers.”What kind of monster would shoot babies?” French asked. “I hope if people know who did this, they’d please just turn them in. Turn them people in. They don’t deserve to be free, because my cousins don’t deserve to be dead. And them babies didn’t even have the chance to even live.”The community is mourning the tragedy as well. People who didn’t know any of the victims visited the home Tuesday, offering support and prayers.”I’m just a mother,” said Angela Lamb. “I wish something could be done. I’m scared every day and every night. I am scared right now.”Wyomi Rollins, who grew up in the neighborhood, left an angel at the scene.
     
“It is cruel. Innocent babies, innocent babies,” she said.Reverend Malachi Walker opened his church, the Great Commission Church of God on North Arsenal, to family and friends of the victims shortly after the shooting Monday night. He continued to welcome those who needed a place to turn on Tuesday, holding a prayer vigil Tuesday evening.”You do question God. Is there a God?” Rev. Walker said. “We often walk these streets in the evening time and go up to people and pray with them.”

 

 

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Prayer vigil held for shooting victims
Jan 21, 2008

 

 

The mayor, sheriff and chief of police attended the vigil.
The mayor, sheriff and chief of police attended the vigil.
Police Chief Michael Spears prays during the vigil.
Police Chief Michael Spears prays during the vigil.
 

Richard Essex/Eyewitness NewsNortheast Indianapolis – A neighborhood gathered Tuesday for a prayer vigil, trying to make sense of the Hovey Street murders.Tuesday evening, friends, relatives and compassionate neighbors attended the service at the Great Commission Church of God on North Arsenal, just one block from the scene where two women and their children were shot to death late Monday night. The church opened its doors shortly after the shooting to give family members a place to gather out of the cold.Tuesday, they returned to the warmth of a community. Even total strangers came out to offer support and prayer.”We are killing each other,” said Sheriff Frank Anderson. “And when we start killing babies, that’s enough.””We call upon you on behalf of this family. Hearts are broken, hearts are torn, hearts are bleeding,” a prayer rang out. “Father, right now we pray that you would embrace this family, you know their hurts, oh God, you see the wounded, oh God, but your arms are big enough to comfort them.”Four candles lit up the altar, one for each victim, with a promise to keep them burning until someone is brought to justice.Joining the full house were politicians, the mayor, the chief of police and the sheriff, all offering their support.”I want to extend from the bottom of my heart, person to person, man to man, my heartfelt condolences to those that this pain falls disproportionately,” said Public Safety Director Scott Newman.”Since we are in the house of the Lord,” Anderson said. “You know, you come to church and you get all fired up, right? And then you go back out in the world and somehow you go down and what I’m saying to you is, enough is enough. We are fired up over this, we’ve got to stay fired up. We got to support each other, we have got to stop this madness.”He then echoed his statements from earlier in the day.”We will not stop,” he said. “I promise you, I promise you, I promise you. We will not stop until we put these people, and I said it earlier – for lack of a better word – put the dogs in the cage.”

Most everyone that spoke at the prayer vigil Tuesday night said the healing starts in the church, but if the violence is going to end it has to start in the streets.

 http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=7630372

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Critical deadline passes in Hovey murder investigation

 Jan 23, 2008

A shrine continues to grow outside the house where the murders took place.
A shrine continues to grow outside the house where the murders took place.
Some 90 officers are working this case.
Some 90 officers are working this case.
Prayers continue to be offered for the victims and for the killers to surrender.
Prayers continue to be offered for the victims and for the killers to surrender.
 

David MacAnally/Eyewitness NewsIndianapolis – A critical deadline has passed to find the killers of two women and their babies. 90 officers and detectives are all focused on the shootings that took place Monday night in the 3200 block of Hovey Street.Police were called to the murder scene around 10:45pm Monday, and 10:45pm Wednesday marked 48 hours since the crime. Those real life profiles of cops cracking cases isn’t called FIRST 48 for nothing.”It is a special instance of throwing all of the resources as fast and furious as you can,” said University of Indianapoils professor Dr. David Wantz.Dr. Wantz was a Maryland Policeman and taught at the police training academy. He said the city can’t keep up to 90 police officers and detectives on the same case for much more than two days but there’s another reason those first 48 are so critical.”The faster and fresher you can get witnesses to describe what they saw and they know, the less it’s going to be tainted by what they see and hear.” And in questioning witnesses and suspects “the comments are less rehearsed.”Sheriff Frank Anderson vowed Tuesday to catch those responsible. “We will track you down like dogs,” he said.”When you get the two top lawmen saying we are on your trail, it tends to make the bad guys a bit more nervous and hopefully come to their senses and say ‘okay we have to come in and try to make things right,'” said Dr. Watnz.Tougher words get the community more outraged and involved too, he says. One man at Wednesday’s prayer vigil at the crime scene said “I wish I knew who they were I would drop the dime on them.”A woman prayed “please give the guidance to do what they must do right now, Lord.”As of Wednesday night police are closely guarding all the information they’ve collected. And even though the first 48 hours have passed, expect to see the same intensity Thursday.

 http://www.wthr.com/global/Story.asp?s=7733600

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-15-IndianapolisMurders_N.htm?csp=34

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Preliminary charges filed in Hovey Street murder

Jan 21, 2008

 

 

Ronald Davis
Ronald Davis
Dontae Hobson
Dontae Hobson
Jasper Frazier
Jasper Frazier
Zarumin Coleman
Zarumin Coleman
Talk show host Terri D discussed the arrests on her radio show Sunday.
Talk show host Terri D discussed the arrests on her radio show Sunday.

 

Steve Jefferson/Eyewitness NewsIndianapolis – Talk of the four men arrested in connection with the murder of four people dominated conversation Sunday morning.Homicide detectives arrested four men in the case, preliminarily charging two of them with four counts of murder in the shooting that left 24-year-olds Gina Hunt and Andrea Yarrell dead along with their two small children at their home on Hovey Street late Monday night.”To the victims, I wish them, and hope that they rest in peace,” Sheriff Frank Anderson said. “And to the ones who did this,I hope there is no peace for them.”Ronald Davis faces four counts of murder and four counts of felony murder, along with one count of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. His pastor at a local church says Davis is remorseful.”I want the family of the victims to know that we are sorry about this,” she said. “We are praying with them we are praying for them we have been through tragedy we know how it feels. I want them to know that Ronald Davis is not a monster that he would not hurt babies.”Dontae Hobson also faces four counts of felony murder and one count of robbery. He was arrested near Ohio and Dickson Streets by U.S. Marshals and Metro Police officers Saturday morning.Also arrested in the case were 21-year-old Zarumin Coleman, who was picked up near 21st and Capitol during a warrant sweep Thursday, and 36-year-old Jasper Frazier, who turned himself in to Toledo Police Wednesday, implicating three other men in the crime. Coleman faces preliminary charges of faces one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of assisting a criminal, while Frazier is charged with one count each of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.Police say all four men have criminal histories.The suspected shooters in the case, Hobson and Davis, have backgrounds that include arrests for domestic battery and dealing narcotics. Davis previously served 11 years on a drug conviction. Coleman’s history includes drug possession, robbery, and criminal confinement, while Frazier was picked up for DUI in 2006.Callers into “The Chat Room” call-in show on 106.7 FM shared their views on the arrests with the show’s host, Terri D.”Let’s not forget, these are grown men, men who know right from wrong,” said a caller named Gil.

“A lot of the issues that are going on today, especially among our young people starts at home,” another caller, Lisa, said.

All four suspects are in jail, and will face formal charges Tuesday in a downtown Indianapolis court.

“We think we got the primary people that were involved in the homicide,” IMPD Lt. Jeff Duhamell said.

Police are not yet releasing a motive for the killing, and hope to interview more witnesses who may have been afraid to speak up before, but may feel safer now that arrests have been made.

Both Chief of Police Michael Spears and Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said the murders shook the conscience of the community and compelled people to come forward who otherwise may not have done so.

Friday night, police whisked a man through the lobby of the City-County Building, handcuffed and with his head covered, questioning him late into the night. A person close to the case told Eyewitness News, “He’s an important one.”

Gina and Jordan Hunt were laid to rest Saturday at Crown Hill Cemetery. A funeral service for 24-year-old Andrea Yarrell and her daughter Charlii will be held Monday morning. They will be buried alongside the Hunts at Crown Hill.

Related stories
Critical deadline passes
Prayer vigil held for shooting victims
Victim’s boyfriend heard shooting over phone
Two children among four killed in overnight shooting
Family and police look for answers
Community devastated by murders

 http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7747046

 http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080118/LOCAL18/801180463&theme=

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Hovey Street murders
Indianapolis Star

JANUARY 23, 2008

 

 

INDIANAPOLIS – The men charged in the Hovey Street slayings were trying to score 50 pounds of marijuana and cash in a house they saw as an easy target because they expected only women to be inside, prosecutors say.The plan turned deadly when 10 shots were fired from a .40-caliber handgun at Gina Hunt, 24, and Andrea Yarrell, 24, as they cowered behind a bed, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in Marion Superior Court. Clutching their children in their arms and begging for their lives, the women insisted there were no drugs in the house, one of the suspects told police.Late on Jan. 14, police found Hunt and her 23-month-old son, Jordan Hunt, as well as Yarrell and her 5-month-old daughter, Charlii Daye-Yarrell, shot multiple times in a house in the 3200 block of Hovey Street. Charlii was pronounced dead at an area hospital, the other three at the house.Saturday, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced four people had been arrested and preliminarily charged in the slayings: Donte Hobson, 30, and Ronald “Action” Davis, 30, both were initially charged with murder and robbery, and Zarumin Coleman, 21, and Jasper Frazier, 36, both were initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.Police Chief Michael Spears said Tuesday that a multitude of tips from the public helped investigators zero in on the suspects.“The sheer outrageousness of the crime touched the consciousness of everyone,” Spears said.The four are being held in the Marion County Jail and face initial hearings in Marion Superior Court this morning. Prosecutors were expected to request a 72-hour extension to file official charges. Police make their initial arrests using a “probable cause” standard. Those “initial” or “preliminary” charges filed by police often get changed later by the prosecutor’s office, which has the sole power to file criminal charges in court.IMPD Sgt. Paul Thompson declined to comment on the documents filed Tuesday. Matthew Symons, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, could not be reached.The documents reveal that the plan to rob the Hovey Street house was hatched when Tommy “Blunt” Warren and Coleman agreed to steal a large amount of marijuana and money they believed was in the house.Warren, who had lived a block away on Hovey Street from where Yarrell grew up, has not been charged in the case. He told police he initially told Coleman he was hesitant about the robbery because he knew the women who would be inside, the affidavit said.Warren, 24, told detectives he was supposed to accompany Davis, Hobson and Coleman to the robbery and that Coleman was to pick him up, but he and his brother got tired of waiting for them and he left a pre-arranged pickup spot, the affidavit said.When Coleman couldn’t find Warren, prosecutors say, he picked up Frazier instead. Coleman was driving a black SUV with Indianapolis Colts license plates that prosecutors say he had “rented” from its owner in exchange for crack cocaine.
The suspects picked up a 9mm handgun from a house in the 1600 block of North Broadway and a .40-caliber Glock at an apartment near 16th Street and Park Avenue, the affidavit said.Frazier and Davis told police they went inside the Hovey Street house after kicking in a window while Hobson and Coleman waited outside, according to the affidavit.
“They were checking the house and Davis found the women and children behind the bed,” IMPD Detective Thomas Lehn wrote in the document. “Frazier said that Davis began screaming at them, ‘Give up the money. Where’s the weed at?’.”The women told Davis that the drugs had been moved to another location, according to the affidavit.

“The women cried and pleaded with Davis not to shoot them and their babies,” Lehn wrote. “Frazier said Davis began shooting the women and the babies with the Glock.”

Frazier told police he entered the house with the 9 mm pistol and that Davis was carrying the Glock, the affidavit said. He grabbed Davis’ arm to try to stop him from firing, according to the affidavit. Lehn wrote: “Davis pointed the pistol at him (Frazier) and said he would kill him.”

Davis told police he carried the 9 mm pistol into the house and that Frazier shot the women.

Statements by Coleman and Hobson place the Glock in Davis’ hands, according to the affidavit. Police found 10 .40-caliber shell casings in the bedroom with the bodies, the affidavit said.

A 9mm pistol and a Glock were found in separate locations in the 3300 block of North Hovey Street and turned in to police. Preliminary lab testing showed that the 10 casings found inside the house were fired from the Glock found along Hovey Street.

The owner of the house, James “Dick” Walker, could not be reached for comment. Police investigating the quadruple homicide on Jan. 14 found a safe, about a pound of suspected marijuana, an electronic scale, ammunition and three long guns in the house.

Frazier turned himself into police in Toledo, Ohio, after telling The Indianapolis Star that Coleman and two other men lured him into what he thought was a robbery and that he was in the house when another man fired the shots. He said Coleman threatened to kill him, so he fled.

Funerals for the victims were held Saturday and Monday.

The four men accused in the slayings all have criminal histories.

Hobson was released from the Indiana Department of Correction in January 1999 after serving a five-year prison term for dealing cocaine and a year for possessing a handgun without a license, records show.

Davis was released from the DOC in October after serving sentences for criminal confinement, battery and dealing cocaine, records show.

Coleman was sent to the Department of Correction on Nov. 12, 2002, on Marion County convictions for possession of cocaine or narcotic drugs, dangerous possession of a handgun, and possession of a handgun without a license. He was sent back to DOC on March 29, 2006, after being convicted of attempted robbery in Marion County. He was released Sept. 29, 2006.

Department of Correction records show Frazier was sentenced May 10, 2002, for carrying a handgun without a license and released Sept. 30, 2003. He was sentenced to DOC again Nov. 11, 2006, for residential entry and released July 10, 2007. Both offenses occurred in St. Joseph County.

Warren, who also has an extensive criminal history, remains in the Marion County Jail on an unrelated charge of robbery.

Timeline of events in the case

10:31 p.m. Jan. 14: IMPD sent to a home in the 3300 block of Hovey Street on a break-in. The house is vacant. At 10:34 p.m., an officer spots a black SUV with Colts plates moving in reverse on Hovey.

10:56 p.m. Jan. 14: Officers find Gina Hunt, 24; Jordan Hunt, 23 months; Andrea Yarrell, 24; and Charlii Daye-Yarrell, 5 months, fatally shot in a house in the 3200 block of Hovey.

Jan. 16: Steve Swanson tells police he traded his black SUV to Zarumin Coleman for crack cocaine 10 days earlier. He tells police he found the vehicle in his driveway Jan. 15, with the Colts plate missing.

Jan. 16: Police arrest Tommy Warren on an unrelated warrant. He tells police he was at the apartments near 16th Street and Park Avenue the night of the killings when Coleman drove up in the black SUV, and the two planned to rob the house. Coleman left to pick up someone else, Warren tells police, while he waited with his brother for Coleman. They grew tired of waiting and left. Twenty minutes later, Warren says, he found out about the shootings.

Jan. 17: Police arrest Coleman, 21, on unrelated charges. He denies involvement in the shootings.

Jan. 18: Jasper Frazier, 36, turns himself in to IMPD and says he was in the house when Ronald Davis killed the four, police said.

Jan. 18: Coleman admits he drove the SUV to the house and that Warren had told him there were at least 50 pounds of marijuana and cash there and only “girls” in the house, police said. He said he, Warren and Davis agreed to carry out the robbery, but when he went to pick up Warren, he was gone, so he picked up Frazier instead, according to police.

Jan. 18: Davis, 30, turns himself in. He admits he participated in the robbery but said he did not shoot anyone, police said. He claims Frazier shot the women, officials said.

Jan. 20: Donte Hobson says he rode in the back of the SUV, police said.

Originally published January 23, 2008

 

 

 

 http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080123/NEWS03/80123003/1002/NEWS01

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January 23, 2008
OFFICIALS:  SUSPECTS IN HOVEY  KILLINGS WERE AFTER POT, CASH

The men charged in the Hovey Street slayings were trying to score 50 pounds of marijuana and cash in a house they saw as an easy target because they expected only women to be inside, prosecutors say.

(Clockwise from top left) Jasper Frazier, 36, Ronald Davis, 30, Donte Hobson, 30, and Zarumin Coleman, 21. – IMPD

What prosecutors say happened

 

 

The plan turned deadly when 10 shots were fired from a .40-caliber handgun at Gina Hunt, 24, and Andrea Yarrell, 24, as they cowered behind a bed, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in Marion Superior Court. Clutching their children in their arms and begging for their lives, the women insisted there were no drugs in the house, one of the suspects told police.
Late on Jan. 14, police found Hunt and her 23-month-old son, Jordan Hunt, as well as Yarrell and her 5-month-old daughter, Charlii Daye-Yarrell, shot multiple times in a house in the 3200 block of Hovey Street. Charlii was pronounced dead at an area hospital, the other three at the house.
Saturday, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced four people had been arrested and preliminarily charged in the slayings: Donte Hobson, 30, and Ronald “Action” Davis, 30, both were initially charged with murder and robbery, and Zarumin Coleman, 21, and Jasper Frazier, 36, both were initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.
Police Chief Michael Spears said Tuesday that a multitude of tips from the public helped investigators zero in on the suspects.“The sheer outrageousness of the crime touched the consciousness of everyone,” Spears said.
The four are being held in the Marion County Jail and face initial hearings in Marion Superior Court this morning. Prosecutors were expected to request a 72-hour extension to file official charges. Police make their initial arrests using a “probable cause” standard. Those “initial” or “preliminary” charges filed by police often get changed later by the prosecutor’s office, which has the sole power to file criminal charges in court.
IMPD Sgt. Paul Thompson declined to comment on the documents filed Tuesday. Matthew Symons, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, could not be reached.The documents reveal that the plan to rob the Hovey Street house was hatched when Tommy “Blunt” Warren and Coleman agreed to steal a large amount of marijuana and money they believed was in the house.

Andrea Yarrell with her five-month-old daughter Charlii Yarrell in a submitted family photo.
Warren, who had lived a block away on Hovey Street from where Yarrell grew up, has not been charged in the case. He told police he initially told Coleman he was hesitant about the robbery because he knew the women who would be inside, the affidavit said.Warren, 24, told detectives he was supposed to accompany Davis, Hobson and Coleman to the robbery and that Coleman was to pick him up, but he and his brother got tired of waiting for them and he left a pre-arranged pickup spot, the affidavit said.When Coleman couldn’t find Warren, prosecutors say, he picked up Frazier instead. Coleman was driving a black SUV with Indianapolis Colts license plates that prosecutors say he had “rented” from its owner in exchange for crack cocaine.
The suspects picked up a 9mm handgun from a house in the 1600 block of North Broadway and a .40-caliber Glock at an apartment near 16th Street and Park Avenue, the affidavit said.

Gina and Jordan Hunt in a submitted family photo.
Frazier and Davis told police they went inside the Hovey Street house after kicking in a window while Hobson and Coleman waited outside, according to the affidavit.
“They were checking the house and Davis found the women and children behind the bed,” IMPD Detective Thomas Lehn wrote in the document. “Frazier said that Davis began screaming at them, ‘Give up the money. Where’s the weed at?’.”The women told Davis that the drugs had been moved to another location, according to the affidavit.“The women cried and pleaded with Davis not to shoot them and their babies,” Lehn wrote. “Frazier said Davis began shooting the women and the babies with the Glock.”Frazier told police he entered the house with the 9 mm pistol and that Davis was carrying the Glock, the affidavit said. He grabbed Davis’ arm to try to stop him from firing, according to the affidavit. Lehn wrote: “Davis pointed the pistol at him (Frazier) and said he would kill him.”Davis told police he carried the 9 mm pistol into the house and that Frazier shot the women.Statements by Coleman and Hobson place the Glock in Davis’ hands, according to the affidavit. Police found 10 .40-caliber shell casings in the bedroom with the bodies, the affidavit said.A 9mm pistol and a Glock were found in separate locations in the 3300 block of North Hovey Street and turned in to police. Preliminary lab testing showed that the 10 casings found inside the house were fired from the Glock found along Hovey Street.The owner of the house, James “Dick” Walker, could not be reached for comment. Police investigating the quadruple homicide on Jan. 14 found a safe, about a pound of suspected marijuana, an electronic scale, ammunition and three long guns in the house.Frazier turned himself into police in Toledo, Ohio, after telling The Indianapolis Star that Coleman and two other men lured him into what he thought was a robbery and that he was in the house when another man fired the shots. He said Coleman threatened to kill him, so he fled.Funerals for the victims were held Saturday and Monday.The four men accused in the slayings all have criminal histories.Hobson was released from the Indiana Department of Correction in January 1999 after serving a five-year prison term for dealing cocaine and a year for possessing a handgun without a license, records show.

Davis was released from the DOC in October after serving sentences for criminal confinement, battery and dealing cocaine, records show.

Coleman was sent to the Department of Correction on Nov. 12, 2002, on Marion County convictions for possession of cocaine or narcotic drugs, dangerous possession of a handgun, and possession of a handgun without a license. He was sent back to DOC on March 29, 2006, after being convicted of attempted robbery in Marion County. He was released Sept. 29, 2006.

Department of Correction records show Frazier was sentenced May 10, 2002, for carrying a handgun without a license and released Sept. 30, 2003. He was sentenced to DOC again Nov. 11, 2006, for residential entry and released July 10, 2007. Both offenses occurred in St. Joseph County.

Warren, who also has an extensive criminal history, remains in the Marion County Jail on an unrelated charge of robbery.

Timeline of events in the case

10:31 p.m. Jan. 14: IMPD sent to a home in the 3300 block of Hovey Street on a break-in. The house is vacant. At 10:34 p.m., an officer spots a black SUV with Colts plates moving in reverse on Hovey.10:56 p.m. Jan. 14: Officers find Gina Hunt, 24; Jordan Hunt, 23 months; Andrea Yarrell, 24; and Charlii Daye-Yarrell, 5 months, fatally shot in a house in the 3200 block of Hovey.Jan. 16: Steve Swanson tells police he traded his black SUV to Zarumin Coleman for crack cocaine 10 days earlier. He tells police he found the vehicle in his driveway Jan. 15, with the Colts plate missing.Jan. 16: Police arrest Tommy Warren on an unrelated warrant. He tells police he was at the apartments near 16th Street and Park Avenue the night of the killings when Coleman drove up in the black SUV, and the two planned to rob the house. Coleman left to pick up someone else, Warren tells police, while he waited with his brother for Coleman. They grew tired of waiting and left. Twenty minutes later, Warren says, he found out about the shootings.Jan. 17: Police arrest Coleman, 21, on unrelated charges. He denies involvement in the shootings.Jan. 18: Jasper Frazier, 36, turns himself in to IMPD and says he was in the house when Ronald Davis killed the four, police said.Jan. 18: Coleman admits he drove the SUV to the house and that Warren had told him there were at least 50 pounds of marijuana and cash there and only “girls” in the house, police said. He said he, Warren and Davis agreed to carry out the robbery, but when he went to pick up Warren, he was gone, so he picked up Frazier instead, according to police.Jan. 18: Davis, 30, turns himself in. He admits he participated in the robbery but said he did not shoot anyone, police said. He claims Frazier shot the women, officials said.Jan. 20: Donte Hobson says he rode in the back of the SUV, police said.Source: Marion County prosecutor’s probable cause affidavit

Call Star reporter Vic Ryckart at (317) 444-2761.
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January 22, 2008
Tears, again: More than 1,300 mourn slain mother, baby

The sight was jarring: a young mother lying in a coffin, holding her infant.Stoicism turned to quiet tears or outright sobbing Monday as mourners filed past the bodies of Andrea Yarrell and her 5-month-old daughter, Charlii Simone Daye-Yarrell.

Cathy Hess (left) sheds tears as she hugs LaKeisha Lee, cousin of slaying victim Andrea Yarrell, during calling at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. – MATT DETRICH / The Star

The Yarrells were gunned down last week in a home in the 3200 block of Hovey Street. Yarrell’s best friend, Gina Hunt, and Hunt’s 23-month-old son, Jordan, also were killed. Hundreds turned out for their funeral Saturday.
Mourners also filled the Yarrells’ service at Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church. The mood was more than sad; there was outrage.“There’s just no excuse for something like this,” said Monica Cowans, a high school friend of Andrea Yarrell’s mother, Dana Davidson.
Sheriff Frank Anderson, whose Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has arrested four men in the case, received a standing ovation.“I’m sick and tired” of violence, said Anderson, in a preacher’s voice. “I’ve had enough of this. We’ve had enough of this!

Andrea Yarrell with her five-month-old daughter Charlii Yarrell in a submitted family photo.
“When we start killing babies … enough is enough!”Anderson went on to say that whoever committed the crime, “If they make it to heaven’s gate, they’ll see a ‘no vacancy’ sign.”Police Chief Michael Spears said that “part of God’s plan is justice, and we’re committed to this justice.”He noted that the public has been unusually helpful in giving police leads in the case.“The Police Department is part of the community,” he said, “and we want a relationship to help make the neighborhoods safe.”“The arrests were quick, and that made everyone feel a lot better,” said Rick Buckley, a distant relative of the Yarrells’. “I thought it would take time, but things must have come together.”It’s expected that the four suspects will be formally charged today, said Matthew Symons, a spokesman for Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi.The church’s sanctuary was brimming at its 1,150-person capacity, and 200 other mourners sat in a nearby fellowship hall where the service was shown via closed circuit TV. Several hundred other mourners stood quietly in the church’s vestibule.
Some of the mourners wore T-shirts emblazoned with likenesses of the victims and slogans . such as “R.I.P.” and “God has a Plan.”The eulogist, Pastor John L. Lambert of Bethel AME Church, Andrea’s church, noted that people come together during times of crisis. That’s nice, he said, “but the time to start looking for the light of God is before tragedy strikes.”

Call Star reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043.
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Probable cause reveals Hovey Street murder scene
Jan 22, 2008
Ronald Davis
Ronald Davis
Donte Hobson
Donte Hobson
Zarumin Coleman appeared in court Tuesday.
Zarumin Coleman appeared in court Tuesday.
 

Indianapolis – Important new details are emerging on what police found at the muder scene of two mothers and their babies on Hovey Street last week.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi released the probable cause on the Hovey Street murders Tuesday evening. It details what investigators believe happened inside the home.

Police found shell casings in the bedroom. They also found a pistol under a trash can at a neighbor’s house and a second weapon away from the murder scene.

Prosecutors name robbery as an initial motive in the case. They say suspect Zarumin Coleman, who appeared at a preliminary hearing Tuesday, thought the victim’s house could hold up to 100 pounds of marijuana, and Coleman said he would kill everyone in the house if they didn’t cooperate.

The documents say Coleman planned “a lick,” slang for a robbery, on the home, and drove the car, a 2001 black Toyota Highlander. But once the men arrived at the crime scene, prosecutors say suspects Jasper Frazier and Ronald Davis actually broke into the house, both armed.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Davis found the women and children hiding behind a bed. Suspect Jasper Frazier said that Davis began screaming at them to “‘give up the money; where’s the weed?'”

The women responded, “It’s not here. It’s gone.”

The women cried and pleaded with Davis not to shoot them and their babies. Frazier said Davis began shooting the women and the babies. He tried to stop Davis by grabbing his arm, but Davis pointed the pistol at him and said he would kill him.

Frazier told police they talked about how easy it would be because there were only women in the house. Davis’ pastor, who wants to stay anonymous, told Eyewitness News Sunday, “Ronald Davis is not a monster. He would not hurt babies.”

After SWAT team officers captured Coleman, he said Davis had the .40 caliber Glock, the suspected murder weapon. Donte Hobson, facing conspiracy charges, agreed.

Prosecutors are still putting together their case against the four suspects. We will learn more as the suspects face initial court hearings this week.

Ronald Davis and Donte Hobson face four counts of murder. Jasper Frazier and Zarumin Coleman also face charges in connection with the shooting deaths of Andrea Yarrell and her five-month-old daughter Charlii along with Gina Hunt and her 23-mont-old son Jordan January 14.

See the probable cause affidavit (Note: Names of witnesses, officers and others have been blacked out.)

Related stories:

Suspects have history of problems with the law
Two more Hovey St. victims laid to rest
Funeral held for two Hovey St. murder victims

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7758202&;nav=menu188_2

 

 

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SUSPECTS IN FOUR DEATHS GO TO COURT

January 23, 2008 

Five men appeared in Marion Superior Court this morning under heavy security in connection with the Hovey Street murders of two young mothers and two children.

Ronald Davis, 30, one of the suspects in the Jan. 14 Hovey Street quadruple murders, leaves his court appearance this morning – Charlie Nye / The Star

Prosecutors sought to delay their initial hearings to finish processing the police investigation, and a judge gave them until 3 p.m. Thursday to file formal charges.
Police have said all five men had a role in the robbery that led to the Jan. 14 shooting that killed Gina Hunt, 24; her son Jordan Hunt, 23 months; Andrea Yarrell, 24; and her daughter Charlii Yarrell, 5 months. They were found fatally shot inside the home in the 3200 block of Hovey Street — chosen as a target, prosecutors say, because the suspects were trying to score 50 pounds of marijuana and cash and expected only women to be inside.
“Tomorrow, charges will be filed against all five individuals,” Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said outside court.Police had submitted preliminary charges against four men. Ronald Davis, 30 — pegged by the others as the shooter — and Donte Hobson, 30, were initially charged with murder and robbery. Jasper Frazier, 36, and Zarumin Coleman, 21, were initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.A fifth man, Tommy “Blunt” Warren, was in court today for an initial hearing on an unrelated robbery charge, but he was advised by Judge Mark Stoner that prosecutors were considering charging him in the Hovey Street case, too. A probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday says Warren, who knew the women, took part in the planning stage, but ended up leaving a pre-arranged pickup spot before the episode began.Warren told the judge he was surprised he might face charges.“The detective came, and I’m the one who told them who did it,” Warren said. “I had nothing to do with it.”Each of the five men were brought over from the Marion County Jail for staggered hearings. The crowd — including family of victims and suspects — filled every seat in the gallery after passing through a metal detector. The hearings lasted just a couple minutes each, with public defenders appointed for most of the men.Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi declined to say what the formal charges would be for each, but they could be announced Thursday afternoon before the next hearings.

He called said seeking the death penalty was “a very real possibility.” When asked who would decide, Brizzi said: “You’re looking at him.”

Elizabeth Duncan, Hunt’s mother, said she wasn’t sure whether she supported the death penalty for the case. She said people on both sides of the case were hurting today.

“Is that going to stop anything?” she said outside court. “What is that going to solve? … I’ve always been against it, but now that it’s happened to me, I’m confused.”

Earlier, when the deputies led the men into the City-County Building from an underground tunnel, some of them spoke briefly to reporters.

“Jasper Frazier killed those people, not me,” said Davis, repeating the same thing he had told police. The affidavit says the two entered the house on Hovey Street together while the others waited outside.

Officials: Suspects in Hovey St. killings were after pot, cash

From The Indianapolis Star
Jan. 23, 2008

The men charged in the Hovey Street slayings were trying to score 50 pounds of marijuana and cash in a house they saw as an easy target because they expected only women to be inside, prosecutors say.The plan turned deadly when 10 shots were fired from a .40-caliber handgun at Gina Hunt, 24, and Andrea Yarrell, 24, as they cowered behind a bed, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in Marion Superior Court. Clutching their children in their arms and begging for their lives, the women insisted there were no drugs in the house, one of the suspects told police.>> Click to read full story

Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.
UPDATED 2/5/2008:
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Death penalty sought in Hovey St. slayings

Jan 24, 2008

Zarumin Coleman
Zarumin Coleman
Tommy Warren
Tommy Warren
Donte Hobson
Donte Hobson
Jasper Frazier
Jasper Frazier
Ronald Davis
Ronald Davis
 

Indianapolis – Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a man charged with four counts of murder in the slayings of two women and their two young children in their home.

Ronald Davis, 30, is also charged with other felony counts for last week’s shooting deaths of the 24-year-old women and the children they held in their arms.

Five suspects accused in the Hovey Street murders, including Davis, were formally charged Thursday afternoon.

The judge gave Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi until 3:00 pm Thursday to finalize charges against the men, who had initial hearings Wednesday.

Prosecutors name the five men in the January 14 Hovey Street quadruple murders. Police found Andrea Yarrell and Gina Hunt shot to death along with their children. The victims’ families attended Wednesday’s hearing, and Sheriff Frank Anderson ordered extra security in the courtroom.

Four other men will be charged with felony counts for plotting to rob the home where the victims were slain, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Thursday.
 
Brizzi said investigators believe Davis was the shooter in the crime he described as “an act of domestic terrorism.”

Davis, Jasper Frazier, 36, Zarumin Coleman, 21, Donte Hobson, 30, and Tommy Warren, 24, all of Indianapolis, were in on the plot to rob the home on Jan. 14, Brizzi said. All but Warren were at the home the night of the shootings, he said. But Warren was the man who devised the plan, believing drugs and cash were inside, Brizzi said.

Frazier has told investigators it was Davis who killed the women and children. They all were shot multiple times in the face and torso. Davis has claimed Frazier did the killings.

Charges

Ronald Davis is charged with four counts of murder, four counts of felony murder, A felony conspiracy to commit robbery, A felony attempted robbery, A felony burglary and B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.

Jasper Frazier is charged with A felony conspiracy to commit robbery, A felony attempted robbery, A felony burglary and misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license.

Zarumin Coleman is charged with A felony conspiracy to commit robbery, B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and D felony criminal confinement.

Donte Hobson is charged with A felony conspiracy to commit robbery and B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.

Tommy Warren is charged with A felony conspiracy to commit robbery.

Prosecutors say Warren, Davis and Coleman talked about robbing the house on Hovey Street because they thought they’d find a large amount of marijuana there.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Davis and Coleman left Warren at his apartment and went to pick up Donte Hobson and then returned to Warren’s apartment to pick him up before proceeding to the robbery. However, Warren had left his apartment with his brother, so Coleman called Japer Frazier asked him to go with them to Hovey St. to commit the robbery.

Prosecutors say after arriving at the Hovey St. home, Frazier and Davis allegedly entered the house and at this time Davis demanded that Gina Hunt and Andrea Yarrell give them marijuana and money. When Hunt and Yarrell responded that the marijuana had already been picked up, Davis allegedly shot Gina and Jordan Hunt and Andrea and Charlii Yarrell.

After the murders, the suspects fled in a black SUV with a Colts license plate. Prosecutors believe Coleman kept Frazier detained in Frazier’s apartment in the days following the murders, and that Frazier escaped when the building was surrounding in a SWAT call-out January 17th.

Brizzi plans to try the case himself, so he’s limited on commenting about it, especially on his intent to seek the death penalty. Brizzi always make his final decision on seeking the death penalty after meeting with victims’ family members. Elizabeth Duncan, Gina Hunt’s mother, said Wednesday she has always been against the death penalty and sounded unsure about whether she wanted it for those responsible for her daughter’s death.

Hovey Street probable cause affidavit

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7768133&;nav=9Tai

 

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January 25, 2008

BRIZZI TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY FOR 1  SUSPECT

Defendant police say was identifed as shooter is only one to face murder charges

Hardly a single shot missed its mark when Ronald Davis fired at his victims as they huddled behind a bed in a Hovey Street home, prosecutors said.

Emotional moment: Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi paused Thursday after announcing he would seek the death penalty against Ronald Davis. – Matt Detrich / The Star

Charges in Hovey Street slayings

 

 

A forensic pathologist found 10 entry wounds on the bodies of the two mothers and their young children, and police found 10 .40-caliber shell casings on a bedroom floor. Three of the four victims died from gunshots to their heads, according to charging documents filed Thursday against five men.
The carnage and the ages of the victims caused Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi to seek the death penalty against Davis for what he called “an act of domestic terrorism that shocks the conscience of the community.”
Davis was the only defendant to face murder charges. All are charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, and some face handgun charges.
Brizzi said prosecutors believe the accounts of other defendants who identify Davis as the shooter. He said evidence supported that conclusion, but he would not be more specific.
The attempted robbery and shooting on Jan. 14 resulted in the deaths of Gina Hunt, 24; her 23-month-old son, Jordan Hunt; Andrea Yarrell, 24; and her 5-month-old daughter, Charlii Daye-Yarrell.
The mothers are buried side by side at Crown Hill Cemetery, each in a casket with her child.
Prosecutors said Davis and Jasper Frazier, 36, broke into the house in the 3200 block of North Hovey Street through a window, seeking a cache of marijuana and money.
When the women told them the drugs weren’t there, Davis fired a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun, according to a probable cause affidavit prepared by police.
Donte Hobson, 30, and Zarumin Coleman Jr., 22, waited in a black SUV on Hovey Street, prosecutors said.
Tommy Warren, 24, who knew the women, did not participate, prosecutors said. He had agreed to link up with the men at a meeting spot but left before the others arrived, prosecutors said. Warren was involved in planning the robbery, prosecutors said.
According to some defendants’ police statements, Warren told them there might be marijuana at the house. He faces a single conspiracy charge.
“Without Tommy Warren,” Brizzi said, “I don’t think this robbery and murder would have even occurred.”
Prosecutors had no information linking Hunt and Yarrell to drug-dealing, Brizzi said. They didn’t own the house.
Davis has repeatedly fingered Frazier as the shooter. During his arraignment Thursday afternoon in Marion Superior Court, Davis appeared surprised when Judge Mark Stoner mentioned the death penalty motion, filed less than an hour earlier.
He shook his head back and forth and looked at his public defender, Kevin McShane.
“Ronnie Davis did not shoot and kill those women and children,” McShane said outside court. “When all the evidence is presented and we have a trial on this case, I believe he will be found not guilty.”
McShane declined to discuss Davis’ other charges.
When prosecutors seek the death penalty, Indiana’s rules of criminal procedure require the appointment of two defense attorneys qualified to handle such a case. McShane said he might not stay on the case.
Brizzi last sought the death penalty against Desmond Turner, one of two men charged in the June 2006 slayings of seven people on Hamilton Avenue on Indianapolis’ Near Eastside. Turner’s case is pending in another courtroom.
The filing in Davis’ case cites five statutory aggravators, any one of which could be used to seek the death penalty: The children were younger than 12; multiple victims were killed; and the murders occurred during the course of a robbery and burglary, both of which are felonies.
Brizzi said other people are under investigation after claims that they provided guns or other items used in the crime.
Indiana law allows suspects in some felony crimes that result in homicide to be charged with murder, even if they didn’t kill the victim. Prosecutors did not file murder counts for the other four defendants.
“They didn’t know that Davis would take that action,” Brizzi said.
Davis was released from prison in October after serving time for criminal confinement, battery and dealing cocaine, according to Indiana Department of Correction records. Brizzi said Davis has worked as a hair stylist.
The courtroom was under heightened security during Thursday’s staggered hearings, and the five defendants have been isolated from one another and other inmates at Marion County Jail.
Several deputies stood at the door to usher visitors through a metal detector. Many spectators declined to speak with reporters, and one woman wrapped a scarf around her face as she passed television cameras in the hallway.
Most seats in the gallery were filled, with supporters of the victims and each defendant clustered in different areas.
Leslie Yarrell, the father of Andrea and grandfather of Charlii, said he supported the prosecutor’s decision to seek the death penalty against Davis.
“Justice was served, I guess,” he said. “I put it in the Lord’s hands.”

Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parents of Gina Hunt have created a memorial fund in honor of their daughter’s and grandchild’s memory. To send a donation, here is the contact information:

The Gina & Jordan Hunt Memorial Account

Indiana Member Credit Union

Box 24489

Indianapolis, IN 46224

 

  

 

HOVEY STREET VIDEO:  http://cookingvids.lefoodnews.com/watch-video/m1A2PBGh02E/younglion007/hovey-street-murders.html

 

37 Comments

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37 responses to “THE HOVEY STREET MURDERS – A TIMELINE

  1. These murders took place in Indy, which is two hours from Dayton, Ohio. My heart goes to the families of the victims who lost a special sister, daughter, cousin, and aunt. This senseless killing of young Blacks, esp. young Black women and children needs to stop. These women have families and lives and for those four punks come in and take their lives is evil, pure evil. I hope they get the death penalty for the evil they done to these pretty young women and cute kids. They will pay, that’s for sure.

    May the ladies and their children rest in peace.

    Stephanie B.

  2. SHANNON I.

    I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH ANDREA AND SHE WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE IN SCHOOL.. THE LAST TIME I SEEN HER WAS LAST YEAR AT THE STATE FAIR.. GOOD TIMES.. I AM SO SORRY THAT YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOUR FRIENDS HAD TO SUFFER THIS WAY.. I HOPE THOSE GUYS PAY THE ULTIMITE PRICE FOR THIS.. I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN GIRL. REST IN PEACE.. I WILL MISS YOU!!!!

  3. Joanie

    I have never in life read of something so senseless and horrific. I grieve for the mothers and babies of this terrible crime. My mind wonders about one thing. Who did the marijuana, scales and durgs belong to? Did they every catch the person that hid or was hiding drugs at this location. Evidently it was a known fact that drugs were at this home. I just wonder who this person is – and why would he endanger the lives of these 2 woman and their children. I am heartbroken about this, it is so disturbing and terrible. I am glad they caught the person(s) that did this. I thank you for writing about this story. They really need to find the person that kept the drugs at this house.

  4. Brain

    I’ve been captivated by this story ever since it occurred over 2 weeks ago over 700 miles from where I live. Why? Because this is simply among the most horrific, barbaric acts I’ve ever heard of. Shooting babies? A toddler. A 4-month old infant? Ronald Davis, if he did in fact pull the trigger, is a monster of untold meanness and heartlessness. I’m generally against the Death Penalty, because it victimizes African Americans and other minorities, usually, but in this case, if it’s truly Davis, I certainly wouldn’t mind it… How sick is Ron Davis? He apparently didn’t even know these women and babies he murdered — as horrible as they are, crimes of passion by relatives or lovers, at least, are vaguely understandable, in viewing the criminally twisted minds of the perpetrators; but this fool Davis killed ONLY because these women couldn’t produce weed or money he was dead-set on stealing; a sicko like that, gets off killing; you could tell by his scrawny butt that his only power, in life, came when he had a Glock in his hands, the punk… Davis’ history, of escalating criminal cruelty towards women, plus the affidavits of the others say, he’s the one. Sick fool… I too, however, want to know more about this horror house of, obvious, drug dealing. Cops say the women were innocent, but why were they there, with small babies, to boot? Why didn’t they leave, esp after the after the robbery in November where, like this horrible instance, they plead for their lives? Why didn’t their families get them out of there? Why did Andrea Yarrell’s father frown on, now dead, Gina Hunt moving in to the house? Who owned the criminal tools, weapons and contraband confiscated? … Obviously, the immediate focus, and pain, is on these victims and the horrific way they died. And the scary part is, there are other Ronald Davis’ prowling OUR neighborhoods and preying OUR bros and sista’s. These guys kill with no shame (just look at the cold-blooded killings, Sat, at the Lane-Bryant outside Chicago, by another ‘brotha’ — who as of now, is still out there — in another botched robbery; he killed sistas and white women; didn’t matter). All I can say is, if you have any friends or loved ones who, in any way is even touching the fringes of the drug trade, as these tragic women (and their babies) were, get them the hell away from it, immediately. Because that ‘industry’ is peopled by many Ron Davis’ who will kill at the drop of a hat… kill for literally nothing… and kill ANYBODY who gets in their way.

    Terrible. Terrible. Insanity. The madness in our communities; it’s got to stop.

  5. Mother T

    I have been following this story since I received an email two weeks ago. I check online every week to find out new details. I was shocked to hear this story. This sounds like something you see on TV. I have two children and I could not imagine something like this happening. This is a TRADEGY! Who would have thought that in 2008 that we as a people would face these kinds of challenges. Do we not have enough to worry about other than killing each other and our kids! We have got to do better. I”m praying for a better future.

  6. Concerned parent

    I leave in Indianapolis, and while I don’t know these girls personally I know about 5 people who do. I saw the pictures from the furnerals and was immediatly brought to tears. The youngest baby was placed in the arm of her mother and the older child was laid to rest but his mothers side, I will never ever forget the site of this for as long as I live. I mean who kills women and children??? this is nonsense I think they all should get the death penalty or they should at least be taken out of protected custody no I take that back they need to withstand trial and get whats coming to them.

  7. Ali

    Does anyone know of an update on the hovey street murders???

  8. snuggles

    i was real close friends with both girls jordan was like my son and gina my sister no words can express the pain we go through everyday knowing that we wont see them anymore drea my nigga for life,and charlii life hadnt even begin yet and for them to take their lives like that is coldhearted and a selfish coleman i know him from being in the hood and i would have never though he would do something like this just as coldhearted ass hell im not sure why we take each other lives the way we do but i know there isnt anything worth taking one of gods children’s life..
    R.I.P GI GI,MY BABY BOY JORDAN, DREA AND MY BABY GIRL CHARLII

  9. Princess Me

    This is probably the one website that went into so much detail about this. Im not downing other websites but none of them show as much information and thats not right this is one of the saddest things ive ever heard in my life and who ever did it….. is honestly just sick. I mean it just makes you wonder, i have three younger brothers all under the age of 7 and none under the age of 2 but if those men had the guts to kill a baby that was just brought into this world and a toddler that was just getting to kno the world and shoot them and the people that brought them here; then what would they do to kids or people older than them. Indiana has so much to offer but things like this really make it hard to even want to stay. my heart, love, and prayers go out to those mothers and kids family.

  10. Pingback: Val - “We’re gonna hunt you down like dogs…” | NABJ Nashville Media Institute

  11. Renee

    You know it’s comming up on a year since this has happened. I come back to the internet to see the updates every once in a while… I still cry… just to think of this. You will never know the pain I felt behind this, and these children wasn’t even mine. But in my heart, they were. It’s so sad ! My whole life has changed. Yes I was into drugs, yes I did drugs . When this happened I was straight gone and didn’t know how to come back. I had to think of my own children and what would happen if this would’ve been me. Now i’m clean and i’m a better woman, mother, and friend than I ever have been. I work with our young people so that I can help guide them up the way they should be . You know the BIBLE says TRAIN A CHILD UP THE WAY HE SHOULD GO AND THEY WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT … This is truely waht we need to do. This was done by our youth . We need to take our children back. Let the world know that it can’t have them and we love them too much. Our world is dangerous, and you don’t know what’s down the street, around the corner or even at your front door. Be careful and be wise, thank God and praise God daily. My prayers are with you.
    God Bless

  12. LACHELLE

    yo this is so sad im not digging these niggas doing dat shit yo take the time and ask them do they got kids and say if u killed their kids wat the fuck would they do see i hope i never have to go threw this shit but i do send mi condolences to the hunt & yarrell family good bye and thank u

    • Ann

      Lachelle.

      Your comment was allowed through this time.

      In the future be mindful of the fact that many people do not appreciate the use of the word “Nigger/niggah”, no matter how angry the commentor is. It is not necessary to use this degrading word to emphasize a point.

      • Jake

        N.I.G.G.A – NEVER. IGNORANT. GETTING. GOALS. ACCOMPLISHED! FOR my people of color, never an insult Ms.

  13. LATIAYA

    my heart gose out to both family’s its sad to know that those unhuman guys to kill two mothers and their kids. Where is the love at ? I hate this happen. I hope they get the max. I will pray for their famliy R.I.P. LOVE ALWAYS TIA AND KIDS.

  14. LATIAYA

    R.I.P. GENA,JORDAN, ANDREA, CHARLIE. We will miss yall love always. I’ll pray for the family’s love always your sister in law tia and kids and your brother james mcduffy.

  15. yvonne

    Seriously over weed and money. These were some grown ass men thirty and up and one still wet behind the ears!!! Seriously over weed and money? Trust me there are not too
    Many women hard enough to stare down a gun with their babies in their arms and lie about weed and money. Not for any dude. I would put my daughters father in jail so fast and give away everything that man ever thought he had to protect my girl, this just proves that there are two legged animals and real aociopaths existing in our society. Seriously over weed and money??!!??!!

  16. chris

    it’s been almost 2yr since the senseless death of four beautiful angels. it bothers me still just to think about it. after awhile i stopped hearing anymore about it. please if anyone has an update, please post! R.I.P angels!

  17. Tiffany

    …MUCH LOVE GINA…RIP 2 all involved!

  18. Chris

    Still to this day this story touches my heart. I pray that things has gotten better for the two families to be able to find some kind of peace in their lives, please lord continue to protect them. I will continue to pray for them.

  19. Chris

    I’m still praying for the two families. Please lord continue to protect them.

  20. Monique Brown

    Has anyone heard anything on this story recently?
    What is now happening to the people who committed this awful crime?

  21. sharenda

    THIS STORY IS VERY SAD, WHILE FOR SOME PEOPLE THIS WAS A WAKE UP CALL THERE ARE STILL YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING LIKE THIS PUTTING THEIR KIDS AND FAMILY IN DANGER. I WANT TO KNOW WHOSE GUNS AND DRUGS THOSE WERE TOO B/C IF THE GIRLS KNEW HOW TO USE THOSE GUNS THEY WOULD OF BUT NOONE EVER WENT AFTER THAT PERSON. ITS JUST ALL TOO SAD. I HOPE BOTH OF THOSE FAMILY ARE DOING OKAY AND GOD BLESS GINAS OTHER KIDS THAT HAVE TO GROW UP WITHOUT THEIR MOTHER AND BROTHER.

  22. anaymous

    This is an update for individuals that have been following up with this case and have sent your most heartfelt condolences….davis is trying to please guilty to keep from recieving the death penalty and insists that he did not pull the trigger….Gina and Andrea were loved bu many and didnt deserve What these men did to them…we love you and miss you…rest in heaven Gina,Jordan,Andrea,and Charlii…((tears))

  23. Rha

    update Davis has been sentenced to 245 years not sure why they let him have his life but it is what it is Jasper Fraizer’s murderous ass is up next

  24. DARKCHILD

    These murders have been a ongoing thought in mind sense it happened. I have been so puzzled every since it happened! I went to high school with Davis and I just can’t believe he would murder some innocent babies. Just looking back on all the good times we had in school, I mean I use to call this animal my brother!!!! I would have never ever guessed he would turn out to be the person he was!!! Yes, I knew him in my teenage years and he was a pleasure to be around. His pastor spoke of him from adult hood, and stated “Davis is not a monster”! Well I’m sorry pastor who ever you are, any human being that would take the lives of too innocent babies in the arms of the mothers is clearly the act of a monster! This is coming from someone who knew him also. I know times get hard and our young black tend to do whatever for money and drugs, but they didn’t deserve to die over it! I hate to say it but, I’ve never been a fan of the death penalty but in this case I’m all game. 245 years to life, he will still be able to communicate with his children and love ones knowing that he has taken the lives of someone elses. I just don’t understand the justice system!! But in this same city 2 men robbed a Brinks Money truck and get the death penalty! And they wonder why people often take the law into there own hands!!! To the family and friends, may god bless you for years and years to come. To my old friend Action Davis, may god have mercy on your cowhard soul!!!

  25. lisa brodley

    i am so sorry lord for all of these things we allow ourselves to get into not thinkn sometimes,but this stuff in this artical is very senseless to me and im sure the parents of these young ladies, i am very good friends with gina hunts dad he is a very decent guy.he wouldnt allow any harm to his family he was all about his mother and children my love goes out to these families please lord help us out here in the cruel world we live in some of us need alittle more guidance than others!!!!!! i pray that all of this foolish stuff will past one day !!!AMEN

  26. BANGIEB

    OH MY GOD!!!!!!!

  27. Adriene

    This is so crazy…..I hope those guys get exactly what they deserve. God Bless these families R.I.P to this children whose lives cut so short and these Mothers!

  28. amber

    Everytime i ride past that street…i just dont understand how anyone one can take anyones life…i just dont understand…glad its not meant for us to understand…i am a scary person i think of everyway that ive heard of others die and more and more i minimize the people surrounding me…i dont trust people much…i have no bros or cuzes or sis…i feel so bad for the everyone that have fallen…im sad for all the familys that lost the ones who have have fallen…its a dirty world that we live in…

  29. Nicole

    I’m at a lost for words.. My love, prayers, nd heart goes out to the family. This was inhumane. I wish their was something I could do. This is a wake up call. We have to get it together. We are all we got. I’m so sad right now behind this. I know its been some years but I also know its still painful. Yall will forever be in my heart and my prayers

  30. BEST MOM

    THAT IS SO SAD I AM CLOSE FRIENDS WITH BOTH GIRLS AND I MISS THEM DEARLY MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS…MISS U BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

  31. melissa

    The God i Serve is Mighty n Makes no Mystakez……They Got They Day!!!!!!!!
    …..
    .(headbowed%%))))) my Condolences

  32. nesha

    This story is tragic. I hate what happen to those babies. Me as a mother wld never allow any one to use my jome whr me and my child rest our heads at for drug use and or distribution. These women and thr children lost thr lives over drugs and money. They made a choice to not tell whr the drugs and money were. Trying not to be a snitch and lost thr lives. Our society is crazy out here. Innocent babies are dead becz of the choices tht their mothers made to put them in. Smh r.i.p. To those innocent children.

  33. lorraine

    ITS SAD WHERE WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE PEOPLE ARE LOOSING THEIR LIVES EVERYDAY LIKE THEIR TARGET PRACTICE AND NOTHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT.I BELEIVE IF WE GET ENOUGH POLICEMANS TO PATROL AN 8 TO 10 BLOCK RADIUS SOME OF THIS CRIME WILL DECEASE AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO EVERONE WHO LIFE WAS TAKEN FROM THEM DUE TO GUN VOILENCE…

  34. sosa

    Sosa

    I dont understand how you could ever think of harming children ,BABIES at that , and the same thing for women, we as people gotta uplift each other we got the devil just sitting back and laughing at us we falling right into his plan. we gotta do better. R.I.P. victims of the Hovey Massacre.

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