Parking lot drug deal shooter gets 80 years in ‘drug deal gone bad’

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Terrence Wintrode led his life in broad daylight after he shot Brinden Fletcher in the chest while they and two other men sat in a Nissan Pathfinder at the Kroger parking lot in November 2018.

Wintrode, 25 at the time of the shooting, was convicted of murder by an Allen Superior Court jury in March for the Nov. 12, 2018 shooting. Wintrode was shot by the front seat driver and pushed out the door of the Pathfinder. The driver rushed Fletcher to the hospital, but he died of one gunshot wound to the chest.

Five years later, homicide detective Roy Sutphin was able to see his investigation come to an arrest and charges. The drug deal gone bad – marijuana and Xanax pills were found in Wintrode’s silver Nissan Altima – was completely adjudicated Friday when Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull handed down 80 years for Wintrode’s conviction of murder and using a firearm in the commission of an offense.

Wintrode was acquitted of felony murder and attempted robbery.

Friday in Allen Superior Court, family and friends remembered the life of Fletcher, who was 25 when he was killed.

Fletcher’s father, Raymond Cowan, spoke for the many family members and friends who attended the sentencing.

“The choice Terrence made the night he shot and killed my son, who was a brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and friend, was the night he changed many, many lives,” Cowan said.

Cowan asserted that Wintrode, now 26,  “made smirks and hand signs” to his friends watching the trial, showing “that he didn’t have any regrets for the actions he took that night.”

After hearing from all parties, Gull sentenced Wintrode close to the maximum years possible, despite pleas for clemency due to mental health issues and Wintrode’s claim he acted in self defense.

Tom Chaille, Allen County Chief Deputy Prosecutor, however, said no testimony was produced on the defendant’s mental health and, in fact, Wintrode tried to “manipulate evidence.”  His record includes stints at the Indiana Department of Correction and in county jails, where he has been charged with sexual misconduct with a minor and drug charges.

Both Wintrode and his father, Daniel Wintrode, who spoke at the sentencing, apologized to the family, but Wintrode continued his claims of self defense. He explained that he was shot three times and also, that he wanted to have time to be “father to my children.”

But if it was self defense and he was there to sell the three young men marijuana, why did he get in the Pathfinder in the first place and then almost immediately start shooting? Chaille wanted to know.

Judge Gull remarked that despite his supposed setbacks, he managed to be, “gainfully employed and enlisted in the National Guard.”

The nature of the crime made it reprehensible. “You were known to these individuals and they felt safe with you,” Gull said before she issued his sentence.

“I wake up every morning thinking about Brinden, the son that I don’t have no more. Every day is a battle. Today doesn’t change that. It just gives me some closure now,” Cowan said.

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