BROWNSBURG, Ind. — A teen was found not guilty on all charges in the 2020 murder of another teen in broad daylight in Brownsburg.
Jeremy Perez was found not guilty Tuesday of murder, attempted murder and two counts of criminal recklessness.
Perez was the first and only of the four suspects in the murder of 17-year-old Freddie Darnell Hegwood II to be found not guilty.
On Dec. 15, 2020, Hegwood was shot and killed at 3 p.m. in the 1200 block of Haag Road, near North Hendricks County Road 100 East and East County Road 700 North, in Brownsburg as kids exited the school bus.
Police responded to a report of a person shot and found Hegwood and another person in a parked vehicle. Hegwood had been shot and was taken to the hospital in serious condition but later died from his injuries.
A preliminary investigation by police found two people in a car stopped next to the victims' vehicle and at least two people in that car started shooting. The suspects then fled. One of the suspects, then-16-year-old Antonio Lane, was arrested nearly six months after Hegwood was killed.
Hegwood's mother, Tonya, was relieved when Lane was arrested, but she never stopped being concerned about the three other teens still wanted in the shooting — especially after reportedly seeing them post on social media almost every day.
Hegwood said her son's accused killers were frequently on social media with guns and, in one case, even singing about being wanted on an arrest warrant. The Hendricks County sheriff announced arrest warrants for then-18-year-old Tyreontay Jackson, along with then-17-year-olds Perez and Kamarion Moody.
The mother said one of the three people, who at the time were still wanted for her son's murder, was bold enough to call her. She said during that phone call, the suspect threatened her, saying he has been around her in public and could have done her harm.
Then, in July 2021, Jackson, Moody and Perez were arrested.
In Jan. 2022, Lane was sentenced to 130 years in prison for shooting and killing Hegwood.
In Oct. 2022, a judge sentenced Moody to 97 years at the Indiana Department of Correction, but Moody will receive credit for time already served (601 days).
Jackson was sentenced days after Moody. Jackson was sentenced to 143 years at the Indiana Department of Correction, but Jackson will receive credit for time already served (610 days).
