INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD arrested two teens for their alleged roles in the deadly shooting of a 15-year-old on Indianapolis' west side Sunday morning.
Wardell Wright, 19, and a 14-year-old girl were arrested on preliminary murder charges, IMPD announced Thursday morning.
Shortly before 10 a.m. on June 18, officers responded to the 2000 block of Lohr Drive, near West 21st Street and North Girls School Road, for a report of a person shot.
Police located a male, identified by the Marion County Coroner's Office as 15-year-old Jeremiah Lewis, inside a car with a gunshot wound(s). He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin an investigation and are confident the shooting was targeted, IMPD said.
Preliminary information indicates the victim was in the car at Lohr Drive and Lohr Way when he was shot and then drove a short distance before the car hit a mailbox, struck a car in a driveway and came to a stop.
During the investigation, detectives identified potential suspects and located the 14-year-old suspect. On Wednesday, June 21, the IMPD Violent Crimes Unit and SWAT team took Wright into custody.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office will make final charging decisions in the case.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting and determine if anyone else was involved.
“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,” IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said in a statement. “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.”
Police reports show around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the same day Wright was arrested for murder, he was the victim of an arson at his home on Kappes Street on Indy's southwest side.
Police say they discovered 44 spent shell casings from three different guns around the home. IMPD says its detectives are investigating this as a possible act of retaliation.
"All the sudden you just hear like a machine gun going off," said Jessica Lopez, who lives across the street and called 911. "When I came out, that left side window was just in flames."
She believes the suspect's house was the only one hit by gunfire.
"Just that one, so I feel like it was revenge or something," said Lopez.
Wright is being held without bond at the Marion County Jail.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact IMPD Homicide Detective Christopher Edwards at Christopher.Edwards@indy.gov or call 317-327-3475. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.