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Castleton Square Mall shooting connected to 2 other shootings

A mom was killed in front of her kids. Two months later, one of the witnesses allegedly shot two people at a mall. Four days after, one of the mom's sons was shot.

INDIANAPOLIS — A shooting outside a home near 34th Street and Grant Avenue on Nov. 10 killed Eria Bankhead, a mother who was shielding her children when she was killed. 

"My mom was a good woman. She didn't deserve this at all," Bankhead's son, Asati Robinson, said days after the shooting. "We were outside. We were all outside."

Court documents show Robinson and his friend, Clyde Johnson, witnessed that murder. Lee-Anthony Hubbard was arrested and charged with killing Bankhead.

In December, court documents say Johnson told police an armed man was outside Robinson's Grant Street home while they were there. Police confirmed Robinson called 911 to report it.

This allegedly caused Johnson to think he was "being hunted."

On Jan. 3, Johnson said he was sitting in Robinson's white Chevy Impala outside of Castleton Square Mall while his friends were shopping.

Court documents say 16-year-old Michael Mason and 21-year-old Justin Johnson-Sparks attempted to get into that car.

"Someone grabbing the wrong car door by mistake," said Johnson-Sparks' father, Eddie Smith, days after the shooting. "Justin has a white Chevy Impala and there was a car in the proximity, the same exact car, and the kid went to reach for the back door and somebody was in the back door and they immediately started shooting."

Those shots would kill Mason.

Credit: WTHR
Police respond to a shooting at Castleton Square Mall on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2022.

Clyde Johnson then allegedly got out of the Impala and chased Johnson-Sparks before shooting him three times. He told police he believed Mason and Johnson-Sparks were trying to rob him.

Johnson was not arrested or charged on that date.

Just four days later, his friend, Asati Robinson, was shot and critically wounded at his home.

In February, Matt Savage, a Madison County prosecutor, was brought on as a special prosecutor to determine charges in the Castleton Square Mall shooting.

Tuesday, Johnson was charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated battery and battery with a deadly weapon.

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