Lake County Prosecutors dropped charges Thursday against one teen in an October 2022 Gary double homicide, saying they couldn’t prove the case, filings show.
Arthur Riddle III, now 18, was charged with two counts of murder and gun enhancements in the Oct. 2, 2022, shooting deaths of Dayvion Jones, 16, and Bobby Wright, 14.
His case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled later, Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson wrote.
A male co-defendant, now 17, still faces two murder and gun enhancement charges. The Post-Tribune is not naming him because he is a juvenile.
In a hearing on Monday, Riddle’s defense lawyer Michael Stryjewski argued the case was riddled with problems.
A probable cause affidavit stated after hearing distant gunshots, one witness said Jones and Wright got “backdoored.” Cops concluded it supported the pair killed the other teens.
“That’s a huge leap,” the lawyer said.
The witness later said she never said it, Stryjewski said.
“I wouldn’t call it recanting,” Anderson later said. “I would call it disagreeing with questions asked by the judge.”
Judge Salvador Vasquez ultimately denied Stryjewski’s push Monday to throw a wrench in the case, saying there was enough information for it to go forward.
Stryjewski also said Monday he wanted body cam footage of an interview that cops told Anderson “doesn’t exist,” he said.
That was “strange,” Stryjewski said at one point during the hearing.
Lawyers said multiple witnesses had not cooperated with recent subpoenas. Vasquez partially granted Stryjewski’s request on Monday, throwing out past statements from two witnesses.
Police were called on the morning of Oct. 3, 2022, when a man noticed two bodies lying on the ground in an alley in the 2900 block of West 11th Avenue, court records said. That witness told police he’d heard at least 50 gunshots the previous night.
While investigating, officers found a handgun and jar of marijuana on Jones, while Wright had several credit cards believed to be stolen, records said. A car that belonged to the man who owned the credit cards was found near the scene.
The man told police the day of the homicide he’d picked up four friends, but one of them took his car while he went inside a gas station, records said. That friend picked up Wright, Jones and the teen, but because the car owner had his key fob on him the car eventually shut off because it wasn’t in the car, records said.
A witness said Wright pointed a gun at one girl’s head and took her jar of marijuana.
Everyone in the car took off, the girls walking back to an apartment complex and the boys taking off together because they wanted to avoid police because they had weapons, marijuana and other stolen property, records said. As the girls were walking away, one of them heard several gunshots, records said.
“There it goes,” she said.
The other girl asked what she meant. She responded Wright and Jones got “backdoored,” the affidavit states.
One of the girls told police that Riddle’s co-defendant told her he’d planned to kill Wright earlier that day, the affidavit alleges; another girl said he’d later told her he did it.
On a phone call, the co-defendant allegedly said he took Wright’s gun and shot him with it, while Riddle shot Jones, the affidavit alleges.
mcolias@post-trib.com