Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann dismissed a murder charge against a woman Friday in a murder-for-hire case enmeshed with state and federal cases from Lake County because he said there isn’t sufficient credible evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she committed the crime.
This is the second time the prosecutor’s office has dismissed charges against Sheaurice Major, 53, now living in Gary. Major, who has previously lived in Merrillville and Portage, was first charged with felony counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder 12 years ago.
The most recent charges have been dismissed without prejudice, which means they can be filed again.
Major’s attorney, Matthew Fech, declined to comment.
Major was released from Porter County Jail in January 2019 on her own recognizance because she had surpassed the six-month limit she could be held in jail without trial between the two cases that had been filed against her.
The case stemmed from the killing of a 72-year-old man outside his Portage home. Major was initially charged on the same counts in 2012 in the slaying of Carl Griffith Sr., but after a key witness in the case was murdered, the state dismissed the charges against her in March 2017 without prejudice.
The changes were filed again in October 2018 under former Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel, who said at the time, “My prosecutors and the investigators in this case never stopped working to bring those alleged to have been involved in the death of Carl Griffith to justice.”
Germann said in a statement Friday that the dismissal followed “an exhaustive review of the evidence and a comprehensive evaluation of the circumstances surrounding the case.”
That, Germann said, included a “thorough analysis” of thousands of pages of discovery and documents from state and federal law enforcement agencies.
“Moreover, we took into account Ms. Major’s voluntary cooperation with the Office of the United States Attorney in the Northern District of Indiana, particularly in connection with another related case,” Germann said.
Griffith was shot three times on Nov. 1, 2012, outside his home in the 2700 block of Locust Street, court records show.
Dontaye Singletary, 26, was sentenced in 2015 to 65 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Griffith’s slaying. He is serving his sentence at the Miami Correctional Level 3 Facility south of Peru and his earliest possible release date is Nov. 13, 2077, according to online records with the Indiana Department of Correction.
Singletary, who also is serving a 45-year murder sentence from Lake County concurrently with the one in Porter County, previously told authorities that he “wished to provide a statement implicating” Major in Griffith’s murder, according to a probable cause affidavit.
“Singletary understood and agreed to participate in any procedure or hearing required in the prosecution of Sheaurice Major, stating, ‘I’ll tell it a thousand more times if I have to,’” the affidavit states.
Singletary told investigators that on Oct. 31, 2012, Antoinetta Johnson “told him that she needed money for (Antoine Gates’) bond and asked if he would kill someone and get paid for it,” the affidavit states. Singletary agreed, and Johnson called Major to say “she had someone to do what she needed,” according to the affidavit.
Sheaurice Major told Singletary that she wanted Griffith killed and that Johnson would provide him with all the information he needed, the affidavit states. Gates was “approached first” for the job but “got arrested before he could carry out the murder,” according to the affidavit.
According to information in Singletary’s case, Major wanted Griffith dead because he helped her ex-husband, Ronnie Major, get out of prison and fire her from his company, Affordable Towing.
Singletary and Johnson planned to kill Griffith the morning of Nov. 1, 2012, while he was working at Affordable Towing, the affidavit states.
When Griffith wasn’t there, Singletary and Johnson “found a vehicle close by that could be used to lure Griffith to them” in the 3300 block of Kentucky Street, according to the affidavit. When the tow truck arrived, Singletary began firing, but the gun jammed, and Singletary retreated to meet Johnson, the affidavit states.
Singletary said he needed to know where Griffith lived “so that he can get it done that same night because he believes Griffith saw him,” according to the affidavit. The two went to Sheaurice Major’s apartment, and she showed them an empty lot that “would give a clear view of Griffith’s driveway,” court records state.
After Griffith arrived home and went to his mailbox, “Singletary said something to get his attention and then fired two rounds at him once Griffith looked in his direction,” the affidavit states.
Griffith fell and Singletary moved closer to shoot once more, according to the affidavit.
Sheaurice Major paid Singletary $5,000 from an envelope of money in her freezer, and Singletary gave Johnson $2,500 “for her involvement, but mainly to help Gates,” the affidavit states.
Sheaurice Major then asked Singletary if he’d also be willing to kill Ronnie Major for $20,000, according to the affidavit, and Singletary agreed.
Johnson stopped taking Singletary’s calls, “which were presumably to get more information on Ronnie Major in order to kill him,” court records state. Singletary and another person talked about whether Johnson had spoken with police, and Singletary said, “If she does, you know what to do,” the affidavit states.
Johnson was fatally shot on Dec. 13, 2012, in her Gary salon, Visions of Beauty.
“Johnson was the sole cooperating state’s witness against the two of them and gave testimony implicating them prior to their arrest,” Gensel said when Sheaurice Major’s charges were previously dismissed.
Prosecutors were “able to establish that Singletary, through gang connections, was involved in her murder to prevent her from testifying,” Gensel said then.
Also, Ronnie Major was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Lake County, with two other co-defendants, in the alleged contract killing of a witness, Jocelyn “Pie Face” Blair.
Blair, who was an eyewitness to a 2008 shooting in Gary for which Ronnie Major was later convicted of battery, was shot to death early on Dec. 19, 2010, at Coney Island Restaurant in Gary.
Ronnie Major, 54, of Gary, was indicted in October 2021 in U.S. District Court in Hammond as part of a 15-man racketeering and drug conspiracy for Sin City Deciples, a reputed Gary motorcycle gang.
Major pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and murder. Court documents indicate he served as the group’s vice president at one point.
In August, he fired his attorney and said he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea. A status hearing is expected sometime this month.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
