'Give it up': Court docs say drugs led to deadly shooting on southwest side
Editor's note: This article includes references to drugs. Anyone suffering from substance abuse can reach the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline, a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) at 1-800-662-4357.
The group had come to the abandoned home to score some heroin, according to a police report.
A man who’d been staying in the southwest Indianapolis residence for months told police he’d been woken up by the stream of people entering the home. One of those individuals, police said, was Brian Hendricks.
Soon later, the group recalled hearing a knock on the door, and in came one last guest: 36-year-old Billy Crawford.
From there, witnesses said the search for drugs began, a quest that ended just as quickly with Hendricks’ killing.
The new details about the drug connection in the fatal shooting are contained in a probable cause affidavit filed against Crawford. The court records show video footage and statements from witnesses led police to make the arrest.
Hendricks, 31, was found suffering from a gunshot wound to his neck in the bedroom of the abandoned home within the 3000 block of Collier Street. Medics pronounced him dead.
Witnesses told police Crawford arrived at the home shortly after everyone else and asked Hendricks if he had any heroin. Hendricks said no, according to the affidavit, and declined once again when someone else asked if he had any drugs.
The group told police Crawford lingered inside the room after the brief exchange, then went outside. Moments later, they reported hearing Crawford returning to the house saying “give it up,” followed by one gunshot. Crawford, they said, then ran out the back door. He piled into a white van parked on the street and drove off, the affidavit states.
Police in the report said the sound of the gunshot and the fleeing van were caught on neighboring homes' security cameras. A week later, investigators tracked the van using the city's public safety cameras and saw Crawford leaving a home roughly two blocks from the scene of the shooting. He was taken into custody.
During interviews with police, Crawford said he shot Hendricks after he reached for his gun during an argument that day. He said he fired in self-defense.
He is jailed on a preliminary murder charge. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will determine his final charges.
IndyStar reporter Sarah Nelson can be reached at sarah.nelson@indystar.com
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: Heroin at center of fatal shooting on Brian Hendricks
