Third man granted bail in teen’s ‘17 drug robbery death
A third man was granted bail Thursday in a teen’s 2017 drug robbery death.
Anthony Triplett Jr., 27, is charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery. Charges were unsealed in July just before he got out of prison for another fatal shooting.
Court filings show his bond was reset to $100,000, or $10,000 cash surety. A pretrial conference is Feb. 27.
In court documents, defense lawyer Russell Brown argued the only evidence tying Triplett was co-defendant Augustus “Gus” Johnson’s statement to former Detective James Bond, saying who was there.
Johnson, in trying to get a lower sentence by cooperating, had a “motivation to lie,” the lawyer wrote.
Both Johnson and co-defendant Marcell Ellison were granted bail in the case, which has been pending for years.
Against his better instincts, a 20-year-old man went to a Gary apartment complex on Nov. 2, 2017, to sell 1.5 ounces of marijuana to Johnson, his then-Hammond Walmart co-worker, charges allege. It was a setup.
The man ended up seriously wounded and his friend, Diego Serna, 16, of Hammond, was killed.
At the Marquette Apartments, 405 South Huntington St., as the marijuana dealer approached Johnson’s car, Triplett came up behind him and fired four shots, charges state. Ellison also fired shots. Johnson told police he was the getaway driver, documents state.
Bond, the case’s original detective, was indicted in 2024 in a federal child porn case. It has since been reassigned to a different investigator.
Triplett was sentenced in a different criminal case to a 10-year split term in 2021 after pleading guilty to reckless homicide in the April 25, 2019, death of 14-year-old Arion Lilly.
The teen was leaving a barber shop when he was shot by a stray bullet. Triplett said he was fleeing another car shooting at him and didn’t mean to hit the boy.
Chicago man gets 67 years for East Chicago child molesting
A Chicago man was sentenced Thursday to 67 years for molesting a teen in East Chicago.
Hakeem Pittman, 30, was convicted last month of three counts of Level 1 child molesting and one count of Level 5 felony sexual misconduct with a minor.
During the trial, Deputy Prosecutor Jessica (Arnold) Woodward told jurors that Pittman and the victim bonded over Xbox, anime and her trust in him.
Defense lawyer Roseann Ivanovich argued there was no DNA, medical documents, or “geo-tracking” of Pittman’s cell phone.
Court documents alleged Pittman groomed the girl, starting with a “Truth or Dare” game that grew sexual, asking her to perform sex acts. Later, he texted her to start having sex.
Over time, he told her to delete scores of texts over a dozen times, the prosecutor said. The victim later testified she kept a lot of them, later texting her mom screenshots to tell her what had been happening.
Court records show he plans to appeal.
Rape plea deal rejected
Judge Gina Jones rejected a Gary man’s plea deal this week in a rape case.
Court records show the plea agreement would have given Corey Jones 18 months probation for pleading guilty to strangulation.
Filings show a woman accused him of raping her in a senior apartment bathroom after she declined to perform a sex act with an older man there for $10.
He allegedly choked and raped her Nov. 3 in a third-floor apartment at the Gary Housing Authority’s Al Thomas Senior High Rise on the 100 block of W. 11th Avenue.
A status hearing is March 11.
Griffith man charged with breaking into home, strangling woman
A Griffith man could face a trial in April for allegedly breaking into a woman’s Griffith home and strangling her.
Myles Hagle, 34, was charged with burglary, a Level 1 felony; aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony; burglary, a Level 4 felony; domestic battery, a Level 5 felony; strangulation, a Level 6 felony; and four misdemeanors.
Griffith Police responded June 25, 2025, to the 100 block of Lafayette Street for a reported burglary. A woman reported Hagle strangled her.
The victim told police that Hagle violated a no-contact order.
He kicked down her back door, and they argued before he started to strangle the woman.
“Did you really just knock me out,” she said.
You “deserved a lot more,” he replied.
The woman said she had video-called a relative just before the incident. She screamed for the relative to call the police as Hagle began to attack her. He fled the home.
Police arrested Hagle in a traffic stop.
The woman alleged a similar incident happened a few days before, but she was afraid to call the police.
Officers noted a mix of injuries that appeared to be days apart, including a black eye, bruises and marks on her neck. Hagle denied involvement to police.
“I can’t sit here and say with a straight face that she wouldn’t do that…to herself,” he said, according to court records.
Lake Station man charged with child molesting
A Lake Station man charged last summer faces decades in prison for molesting a girl.
Miguel Sanchez, 43, is charged with five counts of child molesting.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Lake Station Police wrote the victim said Sanchez molested her three times. He offered her cash or to buy McDonald’s afterwards, records show.
His next hearing is March 11.
Couple charged in Hammond child neglect
A couple was charged last month with child neglect in Hammond.
Saki Davenport, 21, of Chicago, is charged with domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person less than 14 years old and neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
He is still in custody. His bail was reset to $10,000 cash on Feb. 9.
His girlfriend, Shontay Haywood, 22, was charged last month with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
She hasn’t been apprehended. When arrested, she is ordered held on a $4,000 cash bond.
Doctors at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital called the Indiana Department of Child Services after a 2-year-old girl was transferred April 8, 2025, with a fractured rib, liver damage and “unexplained” bruises, marks and scars.
The child lost 20% of her weight – or 6 pounds – since her last pediatrician appointment in November 2024.
Haywood told police that a dog at school did it. Investigators learned her current boyfriend, Saki Davenport, hit and shoved Haywood, who was pregnant with another child.
Eventually, Haywood admitted she returned home in March 2025 with Davenport hitting the 2-year-old as if “she was a boy,” records show.
Davenport told police he kicked the child in her ribs after she left her room, charges state.
Haywood denied the girl was molested since she “walks normal,” filings show.
Davenport’s next hearing is Feb. 20.
mcolias@post-trib.com
