A couple was convicted Friday in connection with a man’s death outside a Gary bar last year.
David Cotto, 27, and Felicia Nelson, 32, both of Gary, were charged in the early morning Sept. 11, 2021 shooting death of Andrew Lukacek, 28, of Hammond. She was charged with helping Cotto avoid arrest.
Cotto was convicted of murder, while Nelson was convicted of assisting a criminal, according to a Lake County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman.
His sentencing is set for Jan. 17.
At one point, Nelson had dated both Cotto and Lukacek, which led to the shooting, lawyers said. She was at a local bar, Tavern of the Oaks, 6201 W. 25th Ave., partly to buy cocaine from Lukacek for a friend, attorneys said.
Within 20 minutes of Lukacek’s arrival, Cotto pulled up and shot him, according to testimony.
Police were called around 2 a.m. to the Black Oak bar for a reported shooting across the street, an affidavit stated. Lukacek appeared lifeless and lying on his back next to Nelson’s white GMC Envoy, shot once in the chest. Nelson told police she tried to perform CPR on him.
A witness told investigators a man nicknamed “Bapo” pulled up with Nelson’s kids as she was outside the bar buying cocaine for the friend from Lukacek. There seemed to be some issues between the men.
“I’m about to air this (expletive) out,” Cotto said in court documents, before he allegedly shot Lukacek in the chest.
Later, after the murder, Cotto and Nelson made plans to get married, believing she wouldn’t have to testify against him, court documents state. At one point, the letters read during their trial reference Nelson and Cotto may have married in early February 2022.
Cotto’s lawyer John Cantrell has implicated the father of one of Nelson’s sons, who is African-American, which investigators dismissed, saying their evidence pointed at Cotto.
Defense lawyer Mark Gruenhagen represented Nelson. Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Doug Shaw and Jacob Brandewie were assigned to the case.
Nelson is charged separately with trying to bribe one son $1,000 to take back what he told detectives, court records show. That case is pending.
