Crystal Kennebrew drove down to Indianapolis Sunday to tend bar for a fellow club owner expecting a big crowd for the NBA All-Star game weekend.
The Gary co-club owner and mom never made it back home.
Indianapolis police said Kennebrew, 35, died early Monday after an argument escalated at an Indianapolis Waffle House restaurant on the city’s southwest side.
Kennebrew was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died at the hospital, police said. The Marion County coroner labeled her death as a homicide.
Five other people were wounded in the 12:30 a.m. incident, according to police.
The other victims, a woman and three men, were listed in stable condition. Police said a fifth man traveled separately to a hospital with a gunshot wound and was in critical condition.
No arrests have been made. Police didn’t have any new updates on Tuesday.
“I’m really sick this violence keeps taking people away,” said Jaleesa Joseph, of Gary, who said she’s known Kennebrew since their days together at Kuny Elementary in Gary.
Joseph said Kennebrew co-owned Fatso’s Pub, a club bar at 5060 Broadway.
Its front entrance was packed with balloons, flowers, and words of sympathy on Tuesday.
Her cousin, Jevonte Thomas of Gary, left some flowers and a small glass of tequila.
“She was a mother before anything,” Thomas said. “I talked to her Saturday and she went to Indianapolis Sunday morning.”
Friends and family members said Kennebrew had one son.
He said Kennebrew lived in Merrillville after moving from Gary. He said she enjoyed owning and promoting Fatso’s. “Everybody loved her,” he said.
“She was a kind, helping person.”
Joseph said she remembers going to childhood sleepovers with Kennebrew and catching up with her on social media.
She said Kennebrew lost her mother, Linda Kennebrew, in 2020 and they discussed grief together.
Arkena Jackson, of Gary, penned a message on a poster board outside Fatso’s and recalled her friend from high school.
“Every time I saw her she was always giving advice,” she said. “This pub was her domain.”
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
