Another of the 5 suspects in robbery scheme pleads guilty

Yahoo

21-02-2025

GOSHEN — Four of five suspects in a September robbery have admitted to their roles in the scheme.
Issac Duckworth, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery Thursday in Elkhart County Circuit Court. He was one of five people accused of plotting to lure two victims to a central Elkhart apartment, where they stole valuables including cash, a bank card and Social Security documents at gunpoint.
Duckworth was arrested following the Sept. 13 incident along with Alora Layton, 18, Carrie Layton, 20, E'Marri Redmond, 19, and Kaleb Goodwin, 17. Duckworth entered his plea agreement ahead of a jury trial set for March 3.
He acknowledged in court that he threatened the victims into handing over their valuables while he was armed with a handgun. The victims told police they arrived at a Middlebury Street address after agreeing to help their friend Carrie Layton move.
Alora and Carrie Layton entered their own admissions on Feb. 6 along with Redmond. All three are now awaiting sentencing on March 6.
Goodwin is being held in the Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility where he is awaiting a May 19 trial.
Duckworth's plea agreement sets a seven-year cap on actual prison time for each count of robbery. The crime is a Level 3 felony, which is punishable by up to 16 years in prison.
Any prison time that the court may give beyond the seven-year cap must be suspended. At his sentencing, which was set for March 20, Duckworth can argue for whether the time he receives for the two counts is served concurrently or consecutively.
The five suspects were arrested after a man and a woman came to the Elkhart Police Department to report a robbery that had just occurred. They said that Carrie Layton, a friend of theirs, had asked them over Facebook messenger to help her move furniture.
After the victims arrived and messaged Carrie Layton, they were approached by armed men wearing dark clothing and masks, they told police. There was also a female suspect nearby who never approached the vehicle.
The men opened the rear side door and the driver's door, and one of them retrieved a folding knife from the driver's side door. He allegedly put the knife to the woman's knee before moving it up to her ribs.
He also struck the woman three times with the extended magazine that was in his pistol, according to police. The woman said the robbers took her knife and possibly something from the center console, while the man said they took a vape pen and a wallet that contained cash, a bank card and his and his son's Social Security cards.
Police viewed security footage from River Run Apartments which they said showed three men and a woman leave the building and approach the victims' car. Police also located Carrie Layton and her mother and obtained a warrant to search their apartment.
During the search, police said they found Duckworth hiding inside a kitchen cabinet with two handguns in his pockets. Both had magazines inserted, one of which had an extended capacity.
Duckworth, who was 17 years old at the time of the robbery, was initially taken to the juvenile detention center after his arrest.
Police said they found some of the victims' belongings underneath the dresser in Carrie Layton's bedroom and found THC vape cartridges and ammunition in Alora Layton's bedroom.
Police questioned the five suspects and learned that they came up with the robbery scheme together while sitting in Carrie Layton's bedroom.