A Hammond man was granted bail on Oct. 25 after his lawyer argued a surveillance tape of the shooting could have been “altered” or left with gaps.
Jaylan Mendoza, 22, is charged with murder in the Aug. 20, 2023 death of Delwin McCloud, 42.
Court records allege Mendoza shot McCloud eight times on a doorstep. Hammond Police responded to the 3800 block of 176th Place for a reported homicide.
Mendoza has pleaded not guilty and argued it was self-defense. He was granted bail after three hearings in August and October. His next court hearing is Nov. 15.
The video surrounding the shooting had “critical gaps and omissions,” defense lawyer Lakeisha Murdaugh wrote in court filings. She had “serious doubts about its authenticity and accuracy.”
She later declined to comment further on the case.
Mendoza, his brother, McCloud and a woman went to a motorcycle club picnic in Zion, Illinois, that day, court records said. There, they drank for several hours.
McCloud and Mendoza got into a physical fight after arguing about Mendoza’s drinking, court records state. McCloud and the woman left him there and went home. Mendoza’s grandmother drove him back.
Murdaugh wrote in filings that McCloud “threatened to kill” Mendoza that day if he came back home. When Mendoza turned himself in at the Hammond Police Station days later, Mendoza had a “black eye, scratches on his neck, and hole in his shoe” from a bullet – signs of a potential struggle, she argued. McCloud “lunged” at Mendoza before the shooting, she said.
“The state’s video cuts off just before the crucial moment when (McCloud) steps out of the house to attack (Mendoza),” the lawyer wrote. That was “highly suspicious” and “suggests that the (prosecution’s) version of the footage may have been (at some point) selectively edited to omit the most important evidence.”
At the bail hearing, she introduced footage provided by Mendoza’s brother, who used his phone to record the security footage. It was a second or two longer and appeared to show McCloud “lunging” at Mendoza’s neck, the lawyer argued.
It was a “key moment” the prosecutors’ video “conveniently omits,” she wrote.
Someone called 911 an hour later. There was “ample time for someone to alter or tamper with the video.”
Deputy Prosecutors Lindsey Lanham and Jacob Brandewie countered that the video “unfortunately cuts out” on its own. They discounted the brother’s recording, saying it was “not entirely reliable,” including since he was “not forthcoming” to police. Court filings show he didn’t remember much of the day.
Additionally, they argued the shooting was deliberate since Mendoza was on the porch 20 seconds before he opened fire. There was “no physical interaction” between father and son, they wrote. Mendoza was wearing a mask and had a gun as he arrived.
Prosecutors argued it was “conjecture” that something happened at the picnic to set Mendoza off. He had four hours to cool down, they said, and the black eye wasn’t from a fight on the porch.
Murdaugh rejected their explanation that a “wire shot out” since the brother was able to record off the system hours later.
She argued the missing tape footage was as if someone “didn’t want us to see” how Mendoza got the black eye.
In court, prosecutors played the video after one woman — who lived there — already testified. While “unintentional,” it didn’t give Murdaugh a chance to question her on that exact point, the lawyer said.
Defendants charged with murder are allowed to file to make the case for their release before trial. If granted, it usually points to weaker evidence or a standard showing issues with the case.
mcolias@post-trib.com
