Triple homicide remains unsolved
By Carin Chappelow and Sara Eaton, The Journal Gazette
One year after her boyfriend was gunned down in a flurry of bullets that officials compared to a Wild West shootout, 19-year-old Tanesha Miles still fears for her safety.
She worries even more about her 9-month-old son, Jemarck’ous Jr., and her brother, Charles Miles, or Chuck as she calls him. Sneering comments from fellow students, an inbox cluttered with threatening e-mails and run-ins with teen-agers at the mall constantly remind her of that cool fall night in Fort Wayne’s West Central neighborhood.
It happened early on Sept. 28, 2002, during a high school party at 1020 Rockhill St. Miles said the party was thrown by a girl who was dating a gang member. Opposing gang members drove by and began firing, Miles recalls.
When the shooting stopped, two people - Tayoung Holley sprawled in the street and Ted Mathias slumped on a porch - were dead. A third man - Jemarck’ous Clay, Miles’ boyfriend - died hours later.
Following an extensive review of police and court records last year, The Journal Gazette determined Holley and Clay were members of opposing Fort Wayne gangs - Eden Green Thugs and 7 Figs, respectively. Mathias was a bystander and not a member of either group.
A pattern of violence between the two gangs was first reported by The Journal Gazette in December 2002. An ongoing review of records indicates the pattern now includes at least 18 shootings and six homicides, but it peaked with the triple slaying last September.
And despite a year of investigation, no charges and no arrests leave the victims’ families with little peace.
Officials publicly vowed to take measures in hopes of curtailing the violence that rocked the historic downtown neighborhood. But the violence continues.
And officials say it’s questionable whether anyone ever will be charged with the three killings.
That uncertainty weighs on grieving family members.
For Tom Mathias, father of 24-year-old Ted, it’s been a year of “firsts.” The first Christmas. The first birthdays. The first Father’s Day.
And today - the first anniversary.
His son, who had not been at the party, was shot and killed as he approached Tayoung Holley, 19, who had been pushed out of a speeding car near Wilt Street - the same spot where he died. Mathias died on the porch steps of a friend’s home.
Tom Mathias has accepted that he never will know why Ted walked into harm’s way, but other questions eat away at him daily, like who shot his son. And why.
“Nobody should ever have to go down this path,” Mathias said by phone from his home in New Mexico. “I just want this chapter of the book closed. I deal with it every day and every day and every day. It tears you up.”
Mathias has tried to stay in contact with authorities in Fort Wayne regarding the status of the homicide investigation. If he lived here, he said, he would be in the police station once a week. So far, police haven’t been able to give him the answers he says he needs.
“I really feel the ultimate sentence is having to answer to what (the shooter) did on Judgment Day,” Mathias said. “But right now, I’ll take what I can get. A name and a conviction. At least that gives me a ‘who’ and a ‘why.’ ”
But a year later, only one detective is assigned to the case - Nolan Banks. The triple slaying is just one of his many cases, he said.
In December, Police Chief Rusty York told The Journal Gazette that several police officers were being trained to gather and disseminate gang intelligence in the wake of the Rockhill shootout.
He also said a team of detectives was assigned to the case. He did not return several calls in the past week seeking updates on the progress of the case or the training for officers.
The lingering fear among youths who attended the party has hindered the investigation, Banks said.
“A lot of kids at the party are concerned about retaliation,” Banks said. “It’s progressing at a slow pace.”
Officials did send one person to prison - Brandon Hardy, now 20 - but not on direct charges from the triple slaying. He violated his probation by possessing and firing a shotgun during the party.
A 911 caller that night identified Tayoung Holley as another shooter.
Banks would not confirm whether any of the three dead men was responsible for the death of the others. That information will not be released until the case is completed. And the end isn’t in sight, he said.
Tom Mathias was informed that one or two witnesses police believed to be credible initially were not. He realizes fear is keeping some people quiet.
“Look at this day - they killed three people. This is what they’re capable of,” he said. “These kids are afraid to come forward. I can’t hardly blame them, but that doesn’t do me any good.”
Although police released rough estimates of the number of shots fired - at least 12 - and the number of guns recovered - at least six - Banks declined to release any updated information.
Mathias said he was told at least 20 shots were fired.
Regardless of the number of shots, Banks’ understanding is that the gun battle resembled a scene from the “OK Corral,” he said.
He also declined to say whether the car Holley was pushed from as it sped away from the violent scene netted any evidence for the case.
Hours before the shooting on Rockhill Street, Allen County Sheriff’s officers working security at Harding High School during a football game between Harding and South Side were told to look out for Clay and Holley, the two now-dead gang members, based on tips that the two planned to shoot each other at the game.
And while Banks said he was not aware of any additional security at this year’s South Side football games, radio communications between officers Aug. 29 indicated police were concerned about possible fights between members of 7 Figs and Eden Green Thugs. Patrol officers from several districts were sent to provide extra security and surveillance around South Side as the football game ended and fans left, according to radio communications.
Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards, who was a deputy prosecutor last September butwas at the Rockhill Street scene, said she has nothing to offer about the investigation. Police have not turned any of the cases over to her office, she said.
As the one-year anniversary approached this past week, the party and shooting were topics of conversation at school, said Tanesha Miles, Clay’s girlfriend at the time of the party.
She stayed home from South Side several days this week out of fear and said she’s been reluctant to go out in public much.
Although an arrest and conviction might make Mathias and Miles rest easier, Tayoung Holley’s mother, Sherria Holley, said the police won’t be able to stop the violence. Despite her son’s violent death, she said she is leaving the matter in the Lord’s hands.
“Whoever killed my son, God will handle it,” she said. “It’s wrong, but life goes on. ... Let him rest in peace.”
More than anything, Sherria Holley would prefer her son not receive further media attention, she said.
But Tom Mathias hopes publicity might encourage witnesses to come forward. Following his son’s death, the 25-year paramedic worried about having to respond to a shooting scene. He now works as a flight medic on a helicopter.
To help cope, he joined the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children. He said he has not allowed himself to truly grieve for Ted, choosing instead to keep focused on the investigation. He sometimes thinks of the Holley and Clay families and wonders whether they’ve been able to find a support group like he has, he said.
“Every once in awhile, I wonder what they’re going through,” he said. “I wonder if they’re having as tough a time as me.”