INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man was convicted of murder and robbery in a deadly 2021 shooting on the city's west side, the Marion County prosecutor announced.
Tavaris Jackson was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury in the death of Jeffrey Herald after a three-day jury trial.
The shooting happened Nov. 27, 2021, in the 5400 block of Pleasant Hill Circle, near West Vermont Street and North Lynhurst Drive. Responding IMPD officers found Herald inside a car with a gunshot wound to his head. He later died at a local hospital.
In October 2023, Laseanne Strode pleaded guilty to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury in connection with the incident.
Witnesses shared Strode's social media accounts with police, which identified him as a suspect. Strode's phone was found at the crime scene, and cellphone data placed him and Jackson at the scene when the shooting occurred.
"Detectives were able to utilize cellphone communication between the suspects and the victim to further establish what led to the shooting," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Jackson was arrested for an "unrelated incident in another county," and detectives found phone records indicating he asked a friend what police knew about the murder.
One witness told police they heard Jackson planning a robbery prior to the murder, and that Jackson told them he did not mean to shoot the victim and the gun just went off. Jackson traveled to Gary, Indiana, the next morning, the prosecutor's office said.
Jackson's sentencing hearing has been set for Thursday, May 23.
