Judge throws out murder, robbery charges against teen involved in South Bend homicide
SOUTH BEND — In March of last year, 16-year-old Rafael Diaz-Garcia shot and killed 17-year-old Terez Parker Jr. on Roger Street during a scuffle inside Rafael's car involving Rafael, Terez and a third teenager.
Police and prosecutors believe Terez and the other teen were attempting to rob Rafael during what was ostensibly a pre-planned deal to buy a gun and that Rafael acted in self defense. In keeping with that theory, officials charged the other teen, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, with felony murder and robbery.
However, this week, St. Joseph Probate Court Magistrate Graham Polando threw out both charges against the boy, saying that the state did not establish probable cause that the teenager intended to rob Rafael or that he was complicit in Terez's death.
Guilty verdict in New Carlisle case:Teen found guilty of killing, molesting New Carlisle 6-year-old
Prosecutors had sought to move the case to adult, or superior court, though they will now bring lesser charges against the teen or drop the case altogether. The Tribune generally does not name defendants who are minors unless they are charged in adult court.
Conflicting versions of events
In a written decision issued Wednesday, Polando wrote that conflicting testimony in the case makes it impossible to find probable cause that Terez and the teenager, who is now 16, intended to rob Rafael. The magistrate's decision came after a hearing on Feb. 1 to determine whether the teenager would be tried as an adult.
In order to move a juvenile murder case to an adult jurisdiction, prosecutors have to show there is probable cause the person committed murder and that the community is best served by having the juvenile moved to the adult system, where punishments for convictions are more severe.
According to court documents, the teen had arranged with Rafael to buy a handgun. When Rafael drove to the agreed upon location — the 2000 block of Roger Street on the northwest side of South Bend — in the early morning of March 18, 2021, the teen got into the passenger seat of Rafael's car. With the teen in the front seat, Rafael saw a masked figure, later determined to be Terez, approach the driver's side door.
From there, the accounts diverge significantly.
Polando's order outlines how prosecutors mostly accepted Rafael's version of events in making their charging decisions. Rafael is currently charged with firearm possession and attempting to sell a firearm to a minor, but not in direction connection to Terez's death.
In his statement to police, Rafael said he was unable to get out of his car as he saw the masked person approaching, but as he tried to escape, the teen in the passenger seat next to him pistol whipped him in the head. Then, Rafael said, the teen in the passenger seat took the gun he was supposedly going to buy and held it to Rafael's head, while at the same time opening the driver's side door for the masked figure, who then held a knife to Rafael's throat.
Rafael then allegedly managed to pull out another gun and shoot Terez before speeding off.
Polando, however, found Rafael's account only "partially credible," noting a handful of points that made it impossible to establish probable cause.
Rafael exhibited no signs of injury after saying he was pistol whipped
Rafael managed to escape without injury when he had a knife and gun pointed at him
The gun in question and the knife were never located
The accused teenager was able to open the apparently locked driver's side door during the scuffle and then exit the car safely when Rafael shot Terez
Rafael engaged in an "immediate and thorough wiping" of his car after the shooting
Prosecutors also presented messages between Terez and the teenager before the shooting as evidence the pair planned to rob Rafael, but Polando found the repeated discussion of price makes it inconclusive whether the boys planned to rob Rafael or to buy the gun.
"The state's construction of events is theoretically possible. But probable cause requires more than just possibility," Polando wrote.
Because Polando did not find probable cause to charge the boy with robbery, the felony murder charge was also vacated because Indiana statute says a person can be charged with felony murder if someone is killed during the commission of a felony.
"In short, there is probable cause to believe the [accused teenager] committed robbery and murder, or probable cause to believe he committed neither," Polando wrote.
Additional charges
Though the teen will not move to adult court and is no longer facing murder charges, Polando ruled that probable cause still exists to believe the boy committed attempted dangerous possession of a firearm — or attempted possession of a gun by a minor.
The boy will remain in custody at the Juvenile Justice Center and prosecutors have until Wednesday to file the new charges.
In the separate proceedings against Rafael Diaz-Garcia, a hearing is set for mid-April.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Judge vacates murder, robbery charges for teen involved in South Bend shooting
