INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman charged in the 2023 shooting of an Uber driver has accepted a plea deal to avoid jail time.
As part of a plea agreement obtained by 13News, Rakeasia Rodgers has agreed to plea guilty to one count of criminal recklessness, a level 5 felony, with the state agreeing to drop all other charges against her at sentencing.
If the agreement is accepted by the judge, Rodgers would serve a five-year sentence: 1.5 years on home detention and 3.5 years suspended (with two years of probation).
Rodgers would also be required to undergo mental health counseling.
Rodgers is accused of shooting Marco Batista on Jan. 4, 2023.
"I am happy because I am alive and my passenger, he's alive, too,” said Batista told 13News after the incident.
Doctors repaired Batista's colon and removed a bullet fragment from his scrotum.
Court records say 20-year-old Rodgers and her boyfriend were fighting at a home on Winthrop Avenue when Batista arrived about 8:45 p.m. to pick up Rodgers. But the boyfriend jumped in the car instead.
"One guy opened the door and jumped in my car,” said Batista. “And he was scared and yelling, ‘Go! Go! Go!’ and I didn't know what was going on when I saw one girl was running to my car."
Police say video cameras in the car show the man running toward the car and Rodgers following. According to police, the video then shows Rodgers fire one or two shots at the car and then another as Batista drove the gray 2016 Hyundai Sonata away. One bullet came through the trunk, the back seat, and the driver's seat and hit Batista in the lower back near the waist.
Batista called 911, but the boyfriend wanted Batista to keep driving.
"The 911 operator told me, 'Why you are driving? Stop, because we'll find you.' And I stopped and I put my car in the intersection,” said Batista.
The boyfriend jumped out before help arrived at 38th Street and Keystone Avenue, less than two miles from the shooting location.
"I was dizzy, and my body got hot, and I thought I would die," said Batista.
Batista told 13News after the incident he was grateful he and his passenger survived.
In an interview with police, Rodgers allegedly said her boyfriend took her cellphone and they got in an argument. Rodgers told police she fired several shots in the air after the argument got physical, but denied shooting at Batista's car. Police said Rodgers told them she only wanted to scare her boyfriend and didn't mean to hurt anyone.
Police have arrested Rodgers three other times since 2020. She only wanted to scare her boyfriend and didn't mean to hurt anyone.
"I am so sorry for her, because she’s 20 years old, and screwed up her life,” Batista said to 13News in 2023. “I hope she can change her mind and pay for what she did and turn around and be a good citizen."
