2 charged in suspected Lafayette gang-related shootings

An 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were charged Wednesday after a string of four shootings reported on two nights last week.

Alexis Leming and Eliel Sanchez, both of Lafayette, each face several charges in the reported shooting spree.

Three to five shots were reported May 17 in the 2600 block of Chilton Drive, a probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday said. A resident said she heard three pops from inside her residence.

A witness reported seeing two males in the area of the shooting pulling up in a car before the shooting happened.

Later that evening, another shooting was reported in the 3100 block of Kilbourne Court, according to the affidavit. Multiple witnesses reported four shots being fired. Shots went into the victim’s bathroom, garage and spare bedroom. The victim told police the spare bedroom is usually where her grandson sleeps when he visits.

The grandson had been arrested in cases involving Sanchez in the past, the affidavit said.

In the 4400 block of South 9th Street, three to six shots were reported a little over an hour after the Kilbourne shooting.

Police found bullets sporadically through the house, and the victims said they didn’t know why someone would shoot at them, the affidavit said.

About 40 minutes later, a shooting was reported in the 2500 block of Central Street.

An acquaintance of Leming tipped off police the next day, according to the affidavit, that Leming might be responsible. They showed police phone messages from Leming.

Leming allegedly told the informant that “police do not yet know about her vehicle and they were supposed to hit five more locations that night,” the affidavit said.

She reportedly told the informant the shootings were “9’s and 45’s” and that she had 10 “pipes” in her house. She allegedly knew the shootings on Kilbourne Court and Central Street involved 9mm and 45mm casings, which had not been made public.

The informant’s mother told police Leming had talked to her about lying low because police were after her and she had been responsible for the shootings at Kilbourne and Central, the affidavit said. Leming allegedly told her there was snitching going on and she was going to get masks and do five more shootings.

When police searched Leming’s residence on Thursday, they reportedly found several rounds of ammunition, two trazodone hydrochloride pills, six Clonazepam pills, suspected cocaine and suspected marijuana.

Police pulled over Leming’s car Friday morning, saw an empty gun holster on the floor and asked the occupants to step out of the car, the affidavit said.

The driver was Sanchez, Leming was in the front passenger seat, and a 15-year-old boy was in the back seat of the car.

Police allegedly found shell casings in the car, and a K9 unit alerted officers of the presence of a narcotic drug. Police reportedly found about .93 grams of cocaine.

Leming told police there were four people in the car during the four shootings last Wednesday: herself, Sanchez, the 15-year-old and someone called B.M., the affidavit said.

Sanchez reportedly told police initial shootings had happened because B.M. and the 15-year-old, who Sanchez said made the decisions on which places were shot up, had issues with the "Do It Gang."

Sanchez and Leming were being held in the county jail as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Tippecanoe County jail logs.

The state requests a bond of $1 million surety and $100,000 cash for each of them, according to the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office.

They are each being charged with nine counts of aggravated battery, three counts of criminal recklessness, two counts of possession of cocaine and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to court records. Sanchez is facing an additional charge of battery by means of a deadly weapon.