Second man on trial for 13-year-old's gang death

Yahoo

4 days ago

A trial opened Monday for a second man charged in a 13-year-old's Gary gang-linked slaying.
Dahvee Brunson, 19, is charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Brunson, Elijah Porter and Kriston Barbee gunned down 13-year-old Orie Dodson in a drive-by shooting front of Gary's Power and Light Church on Feb. 15, 2023.
Authorities believe that in a two-way Instagram Live video, Dodson was disrespecting Julius 'Chop' James IV, 24 — a 'revered' and 'untouchable' figure in the 49th Avenue Boys gang, according to court records. James was gunned down in Gary on Feb. 11, 2019.
Brunson had been starting to 'associate' with a rival 5th Ave. gang, prosecutors said.
Ladaisha Baker, Porter's on-and-off girlfriend, was also on the Instagram chat. When she testified in Barbee's trial, Deputy Prosecutor Tim Brown accused her of downplaying what she knew. She has not been charged in the case.
Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Dafoe, with co-counsel Tim Brown, told jurors the trio fired 38 times, hitting Dodson three times.
The boy was killed by a shot to his back as he ran, she said. He was also shot two more times in the back of his legs.
They had threatened to shoot up Dodson's mom's house, Dafoe said.
That day, they 'stalked' and 'hunted' him. Dodson got a social media call within 30 minutes of the shooting from Brunson's account.
Investigators later found rap lyrics in Brunson's phone about two weeks later that appeared to vaguely allude to parts of the shooting.
It was about his 'experiences,' Dafoe said. 'He doesn't just talk about sliding (drive-by shootings). He does it.'
Defense lawyer Herb Shaps countered that Brunson was at a relative's home on Gary's west side that morning.
Records show he filed a notice of an alibi in early January 2024.
He argued his client wouldn't be associated with the 49th Ave Boys, a Glen Park gang on Gary's east side.
He was 'not involved in this murder,' Shaps, with co-counsel Brett Galvan, argued.
No guns recovered were traced back to the shooting.
A man testified Monday he lent the silver GMC Arcadia to Kriston Barbee on Feb. 14, 2023 and it was later used in the shooting.
It was supposed to be returned the next morning. Barbee gave it back that evening with a bullet hole in the back part of the roof.
The man said he didn't notice it until he washed the vehicle a few weeks later.
He also said he didn't remember Barbee's name — he knew him as 'nephew' but knew the teen's father.
The teen did odd jobs around his home
Brunson's trial is expected to continue into next week.
Co-defendant Kriston Barbee, 19, got 125 years for the killing in August 2024.
Cappas denied bond for Porter earlier this month. His trial is set in October.
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