A Gary man could face 30 years in plea deals for a domestic-related attempted murder in July 2022 and a separate gun charge in October 2023, to settle a slew of pending felony cases.
Robert J. Shaw Jr., 43, pleaded guilty on June 25 to attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, records show.
In exchange, prosecutors would drop several other felonies, including a different attempted murder case from October 2023.
Judge Gina Jones would have to accept the plea agreement. A sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 6.
In the attempted murder case where he is pleading, Shaw was originally charged with repeatedly stabbing, beating and raping a woman — identified as “Victim 1” — in July 2022 in a Gary motel where he appeared to live.
Gary Police were called around noon on July 24, 2022, to the Mosley Motel, 6200 Melton Road, in the city’s Miller section. The victim texted her friend for help, who called the police.
By the time officers arrived, she was on an ambulance gurney with a swollen eye and jaw, with dark purple and blue bruises on her face, court records state. She alleged Shaw beat and stabbed her “several times,” the affidavit stated.
During a previous bail hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar said Shaw had an “awful” criminal record in other states, many involving the same woman.
Gary Police later responded on Oct. 12, 2023, to the 2200 block of Baker Street and 2100 block of Morton Street — about a block apart in Gary’s Tarrytown section — for two different gunshot victims.
A man told officers on the 2200 block of Baker Street that he was inside when “Bobby” started an argument around 2:45 a.m. about who was lying on the sofa. He left and shortly returned to the living room with a black gun.
“You think I’m playing with you,” Shaw reportedly said.
He shot the man in the leg.
“Man, I will kill you,” Shaw said.
Shaw fired a second shot, grazing the man on the left side of his face.
The man said later Shaw thought he was “messing” around with Shaw’s girlfriend.
Police learned Shaw showed up at the woman’s friend’s house demanding she get in the car. She refused because he had choked her the day before.
As she walked away around 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m. near 21st Avenue and Morton Street, he shot her in the right calf. It broke the woman’s leg, medical records showed. He got her in the car and drove around for a while to get his story straight. Another man and woman were with them.
Shaw came up with a plan to pose as a “good Samaritan.” He and another man took her inside the hospital. He claimed he heard gunshots and saw the wounded woman. At the time, a Gary police officer, satisfied with the story, let him go.
Court records show Shaw has a 2008 murder in the second-degree conviction in Sherburne County, Minnesota.
mcolias@post-trib.com