Greenwood shooting involving teens was a 'set up,' police believe. 1 died, 2 others jailed
Update: This article was updated Dec. 20 with more information from the Johnson County Prosecutor's Office concerning charges two suspects face in the death of Ethan J. David.
For two minutes, Ethan J. David sat in the driver seat of his Silver Malibu, which idled at a neighborhood park in Greenwood the night of Dec. 10. On the passenger seat beside him, police say, was a backpack containing raw marijuana, candy bars laced with Psilocybin — commonly known as magic mushrooms — THC cartridges and empty plastic bags.
In David's lap was an Apple iPhone with messages from someone who had arranged to meet him at the park to buy drugs, according to court documents. One of the last messages David received, police said, appeared to be texts from a person assuring him that he was not being set up.
A short time later, officers with the Greenwood Police Department arrived at the 2000 block of Liberty Way Drive on a report of a person shot. They found David's car running and the driver-side door open, his left leg sticking out of it. The 18-year-old was unresponsive, police said.
An autopsy later ruled David suffered a single gunshot wound to the forehead.
Indianapolis killings: December 2023
Three days after David's death, officers arrested a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old police later identified as Quincy Deshawn Stringer Jr.
The Johnson County Prosecutor's Office has charged Stringer Jr. with murder as an adult in connection to David's fatal shooting.
Prosecutors announced Dec. 20 they would seek to charge the 15-year-old as an adult with murder, aiding armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. In Indiana, murder is punishable by 45-65 years in prison. Armed robbery is punishable to by 3-16 years, officials said.
Homicide detectives took Stringer into custody based on a shell casing police collected at the scene, phone records, surveillance video and witness testimony from several people who came forward and spoke to officers, according to a probable cause affidavit for his arrest.
At around 6:39 p.m., Dec. 10, a witness driving home on Liberty Way Drive told police they heard a single gunshot, then spotted two people running away. The witness saw David in the Malibu and dialed 911. Surveillance video from a nearby residence showed two people running behind a house a minute after the gunfire.
As officers searched the area, they discovered a single 9mm Hornaday casing on the sidewalk a short distance from the Malibu.
Police collected David's iPhone and analyzed its contents where they discovered messages between David and another person dating from Nov. 23 through Dec. 10 up until a few minutes before his death.
Investigators used phone records to determine two cash transfers had taken place between David and the other person. Phone records from those transfers led police to an address 0.28 miles from where David was fatally shot, court documents state.
On Dec. 12, police obtained a search warrant for Stringer's residence in the 900 block of Shenandoah Way. During their search, investigators found a plastic bag with a Taurus 9mm handgun, marijuana packaged in a clear plastic bag, a black Diamondback firearms 9mm handgun and an ammunition box branded as Hornaday 9mm Luger.
The Taurus handgun matched the make, model, color, and serial number detectives observed on David's social media accounts. The marijuana, police noted, appeared to be packaged in the same manner found in David's backpack.
Stringer declined to speak with police before his arrest, according to the affidavit.
Investigators were told Stringer Jr. planned to dismantle David's gun and mail it to an address in Kentucky.
No attorney was listed for Stringer at 9 p.m. Thursday.
John Tufts covers evening breaking and trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: suspected drug deal in Greenwood turns deadly
