INDIANAPOLIS — A teenager is dead following a shooting at an apartment complex on Indy’s near west side.
Police are still trying to figure out exactly what led to the teen being shot at the Maple Creek Village Apartment. Witnesses say the victim was shot outside building 21 and then ran inside the common stairwell for help just after 6:30 pm Monday.
Police found 17-year-old Coreon Ta’rell Waites shot on the stairwell and rushed him to the hospital where he passed away.
The death marks the fifth homicide within one mile of the scene at Holt and Michigan so far this year and a majority of those cases remain unsolved.
Last month a 21-year-old was killed just a half mile away on Somerset avenue.
“I mean there’s a hole in my heart. I’m sad every day,” said the mother of Taylor Miller.
Taylor Miller’s mother says her son was killed working as a contractor with his uncle and responded to a repair job in the neighborhood when the pair were ambushed next to their work truck.
“That’s all I know. I don’t know anything more than he was shot taken to the hospital. He lived two and a half hours and he was dead,” said the mother who asked we not use her name.
Taylor’s mother told me over the phone that her son lived in Tipton with his fiancée and she doesn’t understand why he was killed.
“He was a country boy. He didn’t cause any problems. This shouldn’t have happened to him,” said the mother.
Taylor’s mother says she only spoke to the detective on the case one time and feels like she has been left in the dark.
“The one time I talked to her she said most cases there’s a reason, but she said in my son’s case there’s just no reason,” said the mother.
In addition to those deaths, 18-year-old Kenzel Bones was shot and killed buying a drink inside a food mart on west Michigan. Police did make an arrest in that.
30-year-old Sabrina Cowan was shot to death in the front yard of her home on west 12th street. No suspect information has been released in that case.
39-year-old Willie Hoskins was shot to death on Rockville road. A suspect was charged in connection to that killing.
A map shows the cluster of five homicides this year on the west and near west side. Three of those cases have not yet been solved, much to the dismay of those families.
“I am so frustrated. I cry every day,” said the mother. “I have no answers about anything.”
Anyone with information about the Somerset incident should contact Detective Lottie Patrick at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317.327.3475 or e-mail him at Lottie.Patrick@indy.gov
Anyone with information about Monday’s shooting incident involving the 17-year-old should call Detective Stephanie Herr at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317.327.3475 or e-mail the detective at Stephanie.Herr2@indy.gov.
Alternatively, they can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.8477 or (TIPS) to remain anonymous. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1000 if the information leads to a felony arrest. Only tips submitted directly and anonymously to Crime Stoppers are eligible for these cash rewards.
