Defense attorneys told the jury in opening statements Tuesday morning in Porter Superior Court that 22-year-old Lupe McGee Jr., of Merrillville, who is charged with one count of murder, was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed Lenell Jenkins, 22, in a Portage parking lot in the early hours of Oct. 16, 2024.
The two men were coworkers at the Camaco seat manufacturing plant at 6515 Ameriplex Dr., Suite B, in Portage. A witness who was a coworker at the time of the shooting testified in Judge Michael Fish’s court that drinking on the job and drinking and smoking marijuana in the parking lot after a shift were daily occurrences.
Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Kire Pavlovski told the 13 jurors – one alternate was dismissed before arguments began over a potential conflict of interest – that the victim and defendant were hanging out with coworkers in the parking lot of Camaco after getting off the midnight shift. He said there was a verbal argument that did not last long.
He said the two were standing face to face near the rear of McGee’s vehicle when McGee went to the door of the vehicle.
“Without saying a single word, he drew a concealed handgun and fired five shots at the victim,” Pavolovski said, adding that one went through the throat and two hit the chest of the unarmed man who was about to become a father in two months.
“After the shooting, the defendant then enters his vehicle and drives away,” Pavlovski said, adding that when police arrived at his home hours later, they found him on the living room couch and found a plastic grocery bag with gloves and a large-caliber handgun matching the shell casings from the scene hidden in the bushes.
Defense attorney Jim Harper told the jury it was reasonable for McGee to be afraid of Jenkins because Jenkins told him he had a gun and had been in prison. He also said the two men had shared a drink during their shift the night of the shooting.
Harper said McGee sat in a coworker’s car after the shift ended while a group of other coworkers, including the victim, were gathered around his car. Harper said McGee approached the group and asked if they were still drinking when “Lanell physically assaults Lupe, and Lupe tells Lanell he does not want to fight. He just wants to go home.”
“‘I ain’t no b—-,’ Lanell says. ‘Let’s blow,’” Harper told the jury. He said his client repeatedly told Jenkins he wanted to go home, put his backpack in the rear seat of the car, and was approached by Jenkins, who had his hands in his pockets. “Lanell has persisted. Lanell has talked about getting a gun and said, ‘Let’s shoot.’ Lupe is scared that Lanell is going to shoot him.”
It is not in dispute that McGee shot Jenkins, Harper said. “In Indiana, we have the right to defend ourselves” with reasonable force to prevent unlawful force.
Michael Rodich, who had worked at Camaco as an assembler for three or four weeks at the time of the shooting, had known Jenkins for three or four years. “We looked out for each other,” he said of himself and both the defendant and victim, whom he said were friends.
Rodich testified he was supposed to get a ride home from McGee that night. When Pavlovich asked about the behavior of the two men that night, Rodich said, “Lupe seemed a little agitated, like he wanted to go home, like he was done with the night.”
About Jenkins, he said, “I loved that kid, but he seemed drunker than usual that night. Lupe repetitively told Nell (Lanell) to get off him and stated he wanted to go home and stop messing with him.”
Rodich said the altercation started off as “just chest-bumping,” and he tried to intervene, but other bystanders told him to stay out of it and let the two work it out. “I saw what I thought to be them struggling for the weapon,” he added. “It seemed like they were trying to get the gun out of each other’s hands.”
After hearing shots fired, Rodich said he saw McGee grab his waistband and run to his car, screaming profanities. He and another man caught Jenkins as he fell to the ground. “I tried to breathe air into his mouth and he coughed blood into my mouth. It was horrible,” he said of his friend’s death.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
