A Gary man’s attempted murder trial was pushed back Monday after he refused to leave his jail cell, saying he wasn’t “mentally stable” to represent himself, records show.
Aaron White, 38, was charged with several felonies in January 2021 after he tried to break into his ex-girlfriend’s Gary home, later shooting at a pickup as her daughter tried to leave, charges allege.
He was scheduled to stand trial this week.
Instead, Lake Superior Judge Gina Jones ordered him to undergo a mental competency evaluation. He was re-appointed a public defender and a new hearing is scheduled for Sept. 26.
His ex-girlfriend told police she was sleeping around 7 a.m. Dec. 21, 2020 on the 5000 block of Connecticut Street when her phone beeped, showing White walking up to the home on a security camera. After they broke up Nov. 20, he tried to “set her on fire,” documents show.
She had filed a protection order Nov. 30, records show.
White ripped off the camera and doorbell, came back and hit the camera with a brick, records state. He then broke the front living room window with a brick, walking around the side, documents state. The woman’s daughter, 20, heard a “commotion” and got up to find the living room window broken, walking back to find White throwing a brick into her bedroom window, charges state.
The ex-girlfriend called the police as he tried to break through the front door, but was deterred by metal door security screens on both sides, documents state. When he ran across the street to an abandoned house, she called her ex-husband, telling him to come and get their daughter out.
The father arrived around 7:40 a.m. with his current wife. The daughter had gotten her stuff and was walking to his pickup truck when she heard “six or seven” shots. She jumped in the back seat as her dad took off, records state.
Taking a quick peek back, she saw White behind them. A couple of shots had hit the door’s pillar near her, which was still open, documents said.
She didn’t see the gun, but saw “muzzle flashes” during the shooting, charges state. The woman told police she met White about a year and nine months earlier.
After they broke up in November, White doused her with lighter fluid from a charcoal grill and failed to set her on fire, charges state.
After the woman ran back in her house, he broke in, grabbed her by the throat and threw her on the floor, documents said. She escaped with her two daughters, aged 20 and 11. He later texted, threatening to kill her, documents state.
Records show a September 2022 obstruction of justice case will be tried together with the attempted murder case.
