A jury convicted Anthony Day of four of five charges Friday for shooting his ex-girlfriend and killing her new boyfriend in 2017 in Gary.
Day, 56, was charged with murder, attempted murder, battery by means of a deadly weapon, stalking and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
He was acquitted of the stalking charge. His sentencing is scheduled for April 16 before Judge Gina Jones. Deputy Prosecutors Judy Massa and Maureen Koonce led the case against Day.
Authorities accused Day of showing up uninvited to the woman’s Gary home, shooting her in the collarbone, then killing Ajohnte Griffin, 36, of East Chicago, after the woman had run out the door.
Day’s first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2019 after the woman’s landlord said after he testified that he knew Day from a work release program.
The woman also testified at the first trial. However, she did not respond to a subpoena for last week’s trial and prosecutors filed to say she wouldn’t show up. They read out her prior testimony from the June 2019 trial over several hours on Thursday to jurors.
Day’s lawyer Scott King said Monday his client would appeal. The biggest issue in the appeal would be the fact that prosecutors read the transcript rather than having jurors see a witness and being able to judge her credibility in person, he said.
The woman told police she had ended her relationship with Day about two weeks before the shooting, which occurred early Feb. 10, 2017, at a residence in the 300 block of McKinley Street in Gary. She and her friend, Griffin, had just arrived home after being out all day.
She broke up with Day shortly after he saw her hug Griffin, according to 2019 testimony prosecutors read aloud. The woman admitted she started dating Griffin shortly before she split with Day.
The woman had checked her windows and doors to make sure they were locked, then started taking a bath, court records state. While in the bathroom, the woman said she heard a commotion from a west bedroom of her home and discovered Griffin struggling with Day, records state.
After speaking with the men, they both lowered their weapons, court records said. Day kept saying he just wanted to talk to the woman, and Griffin said he wanted to get the clip to his weapon and leave, documents said.
The woman said she got dressed, and Day continued to ask if he could talk to her, but the woman said she didn’t trust him with a gun in his hands and didn’t want to talk, records state.
“You played me,” Day told the woman, according to court records. “I’ve been wanting to do this for the longest,” Day repeated twice, then opened fire at the woman, who turned and ran, according to the probable cause affidavit.
After she ran outside, the woman said she heard two gunshots. The woman said she hid until she saw that police had made it to her home, documents said.
mcolias@post-trib.com
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
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