15-year-old charged as adult after attempted robbery leads to fatal shooting

INDIANAPOLIS– A 15-year-old is now being charged as an adult following a robbery and murder on the northwest side of Indianapolis last year.

Court records show that two suspects, who were 14 and 16 at the time, were sitting on the bottom steps of a building at the Westbury Court apartments when they got up and tried to rob a stranger who was returning home.

Unfortunately, that attempted robbery quickly ended in a shooting.

Eight months later, both accused killers are now facing charges in adult court.

Unlocking the front door of his apartment on Beverly Hills Drive in mid-September 2024, Jerry Thompson Jr. was ambushed by two young would-be thieves who shot the 38-year-old victim in the face when he refused to let them into his home.

Witnesses saw two suspects then run away from the scene.

Muhammadou Ali was charged as an adult with the murder in October.

Tyrann Brown, who turned 15 in November, has now had his case waived into adult court as well.

The affidavit in the case does not explain which of the two suspects actually pulled the trigger, but the murder weapon was allegedly found in Brown’s backpack along with his school books.

“No kid wakes up in the morning and decides I’m going to go kill somebody. Something happens. If it didn’t happen that day, it happened last week or it might have happened 5 years ago and it was untreated,” said Kareem Hines with New BOY.

Hines doesn’t know anyone involved in that case, but he wrote a play which was performed Friday night called “Here Me Hear Me.”

Hines said the message of that play stems from the fact that many at risk youth feel their voices aren’t being listened to and the root causes of youth violence are often ignored.

“The ongoing narrative and the ongoing sentiment I hear is we’re not being heard,” said Hines.

Community leaders like Hines said any time kids are accused of violent crimes, it illustrates the importance of engaging kids and parents getting their children involved in positive activities to keep them off the streets and out of trouble.

“Find out what they’re doing. Stand in the gaps of their free time. Know their friends,” said Hines. “It’s one thing to be present in your child’s life. It’s another thing to be present and active in their lives. That’s what we need right now.”

Brown made his initial hearing in adult court on Thursday.

Both suspects are being held without bond pending trial.