CIRCUIT COURT: Robbery suspect pleads guilty
Oct. 5—GOSHEN — Another individual accused in the robbery of a man at Ashton Pines in October 2020 pleaded guilty in Elkhart County Circuit Court Thursday.
Adonis Blake, 24, is one of four individuals accused of robbing a man at Ashton Pines Oct. 6, 2020. Morgan Carlson, 22, recently pleaded guilty to her part in the armed robbery and was sentenced in February.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim was asked by a woman he met on Snapchat for help with her car, so he met her at Ashton Pines Apartment Complex. While he was looking at the car, two men approached on foot and robbed him at gunpoint, tearing his shirt, and taking a stainless steel gold chain, his wallet, his phone and money from his glove box, according to the affidavit.
The two men then got into the car that the woman arrived in, with that woman and another who remained in the car, and left.
The robbery was captured by a security camera at the front of one of the apartments, showing the group arriving together, the two men leaving the area, and the woman moving into the driver's seat. A search warrant of the cell phone number the woman used to contact the victim showed the number belonged to Blake. Officers later also accused Carlson, who was Blake's girlfriend at the time of the robbery, with the victim identifying her in a photo array.
Blake pleaded guilty to armed robbery, a Level 3 Felony, and per plea bargain, his sentence was capped at seven years. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 2.
CHARLES H. MILLER
An Elkhart man charged with a January robbery in a grocery store parking lot pleaded guilty to Judge Michael Christofeno.
Charles Miller, 34, is charged in connection with a robbery that occurred at Kroger, 130 W. Hively Ave., Elkhart Jan. 15. He pleaded guilty to armed robbery, a Level 3 Felony, for a total of up to 12 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections between times served, probation, and home detention.
According to an affidavit, a caller contacted police to inform them of a robbery in progress and told them the man was last seen running northbound behind Kroger and had hoped a fence continuing north behind Pierre Moran Public Library, 2400 Benham Ave. The caller also advised that the man had taken a woman's purse and threatened him with a knife.
An officer located a man matching the description offered to police who appeared to have blood on his hands and a pocket knife sticking out of his waistband, blade up. According to the affidavit, the victim said she'd been returning to her car with her daughter and heard someone enter the backseat.
The man demanded the keys to her vehicle or told her to start driving (the two women did not agree), but she refused so he pulled out a knife and brought it to her neck, the affidavit reads. Her passenger grabbed a hold of the man's arm that was holding the knife, then he attempted to cut the driver's hands although her hands and the gloves she was wearing did not develop cuts on them.
She told police at that point she opened the driver's side door and dropped the keys on the ground outside the vehicle. The man reportedly walked around to the driver's side door and took her Coach purse, containing two Coach wallets, an iPhone, $74, and three silver rings, off the floorboard and left. Police found the purse in a nearby recycling container and returned the items to her. Miller denied any involvement.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 2
CAMERON J. WOOLF
A man accused of causing death from a crash received a continuance for his jury trial during Thursday's court proceedings.
Cameron Woolf, 21, Shipshewana, allegedly had marijuana and cocaine in his system when his passenger, Adam Maxson-Jones, was killed in a car crash Nov. 16, 2022. Woolf was charged with causing death while operating a motor vehicle.
According to the police report, on that day, just west of Goshen, Woolf was traveling with Maxson-Jones, 21, in a 2012 Chrysler 200 south on C.R. 15. At the stop light at C.R. 32, he entered the intersection in front of a 2020 Jeep Wrangler driven by Wendy Streeter, 40, Goshen, heading east. Streeter's vehicle struck the passenger side of Woolf's vehicle, the report reads.
Maxson-Jones was taken to Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Woolf and Streeter both submitted to blood draws. Streeter's came back with a blood alcohol content of 0.06, but Woolf's came back with metabolite THC and cocaine, according to the charging affidavit.
Woolf recently posted bond and his defense attorney Jeffrey James told the court that Woolf is working to save money for a crash analytics professional to study the crash and asked for a continuance.
Woolf's trial, scheduled for Nov. 6, was continued to June 17 to allow for the study. There will be a trial status conference May 23.
GABRIALA PETERS
A teen associated with a robbery, assault and battery from an incident where three girls ran away from Bashor Children's Home back in October 2022 was given some leniency by Judge Christofeno.
According to police, Gabriala Peter, Nimaoni, and another teen ran away from Bashor Oct. 10, 2022. In the course of their escape, they allegedly assaulted a staff member and stole her building keys to escape
Later that day, officers were advised of three young women running on properties near C.R. 30 and C.R. 15, and they were apprehended — although two of them attempted to resist law enforcement, police said.
King was sentenced to 14 years in May.
Peters was released on bond in May and has received two additional charges since — leaving home without permission of a guardian and institutional criminal mischief in Wayne County. A hearing was scheduled for Thursday to determine whether or not Peters' bond would be revoked.
Her public defender Christopher Petersen asked the judge for leniency and explained that Peters had suffered sex traffic abuse and trauma, alleging that the criminal acts were a result of acting out from the past trauma, adding that Peters is now living with her parents, in treatment, has a social worker, is in school set to graduate early, and her parents are working to get her into residential treatment.
"Starting this, my intention was to revoke your bond and put you at the juvenile detention center, where we do not have room for you, but we would know where you were," Christofeno admitted. "I'm going to give you a huge break here. Looks to me like your parents really love you and looks to me like you've got people who really care about you."
Malorie Palmer with Indiana Legal Services asked to speak, and told Christofeno that she represents Peters, but her appearance has not yet been filed.
"You're in adult court now," Christofeno said. "The people that are here, they're facing serious time."
Christofeno reminded Peters that any illegal activity, including one like the current charge she's facing in Wayne County of running away, could result in revoking her bond.
"You jaywalk and I'm telling you, you're going to get your bond revoked," Christofeno said. "You can't do anything wrong. You're going to have to be on your best behavior."
Reports on the charges associated with Wayne County weren't available at the court hearing, so Christofeno issued a continuance of the hearing to revoke bond until Dec. 21, the same date he reset her trial status conference. The jury trial is currently scheduled for Jan. 22.
ANTAYSHA L. CURRY
An Elkhart woman charged with robbery made her appearance in court Thursday after failing to appear in August for her initial hearing.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Antaysha Curry, 34, had made a Facebook post earlier in the day, asking if anyone had a lawn for her son to mow for money.
The victim made arrangements with Curry to come May 11 to have the lawn cut. The victim wasn't home when Curry arrived, but arrived about 40 minutes later to find the lawn partially mowed and Curry coming out the front door of her home at 56634 C.R. 1, Elkhart, walking toward a red truck.
* When she went inside, the victim said she noted several items missing including a PlayStation 4 Pro, hygiene products, loose change jars, and a Chromebook, as well as other items stacked near the door. She went outside and asked Curry to return the items, to which Curry allegedly responded, "You shouldn't have left your door unlocked if you didn't want your sht stolen," before leaving in the truck.
Officers were informed that a mutual friend was in contact with Curry and encouraging her to return the stolen items and in the end, the victim was provided an address, 30015 Old U.S. 33, Innovative Designs, where the items were recovered.
The next day, the victim told police that she'd received a message from Curry threatening to beat her up.
On Thursday, Curry was appointed a public defender. Her jury trial is currently scheduled for May 20, with a trial status conference set for April 25.
Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.
