Money and insurance payout may have led to fatal 2022 stabbing of Indianapolis man
Money, and a $2,000 insurance check may have led to one Indianapolis man losing his life during a suspected drug deal.
Under a carport on the east side of Indianapolis in August 2022, police discovered Gene White Jr. bleeding on the ground. The 52-year-old had been stabbed multiple times in the 1200 block of Redbrook Court, records state. Medics at the scene pronounced him deceased.
White Jr., police said, had been left beside a black Chevy Traverse. The SUV's engine was running when officers arrived and White Jr.'s pockets appeared to be turned inside out.
Homicide detectives with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department collected evidence from the scene, which included bloodstained money abandoned on the ground near the SUV, a bag of suspected narcotics, a Styrofoam cup, an ashtray and swabs of blood taken for DNA analysis.
Detectives noted a bare footprint — made by a person they suspected had left a size-15 black sandal that didn't belong to White Jr. in the passenger side floorboard of the vehicle.
More than a year after White's death, IMPD announced Tuesday the arrest of Charles Lamar Robinson, 52, in Saginaw, Michigan. Forensic evidence, cellphone records and witness testimony led police to suspect Robinson was involved in the fatal stabbing, according to a probable cause affidavit for his arrest.
Homicide detectives began their investigation on Aug. 21, 2022, speaking to witnesses associated with White, who told police he often sold cocaine and methamphetamine at an apartment complex near Redbrook Court.
White "would pull his vehicle under the carport and his customers would sit in his car to buy narcotics," according to the affidavit.
A day before White was fatally stabbed, a witness told detectives that a man had shown up at White's residence unannounced. During their conversation, White told the man he had just settled a car insurance claim for $2,000 earlier that week.
A witness told detectives they believed White "was robbed" and later killed because he had mentioned the insurance check.
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Police continued to pursue leads in the case when on Aug. 9, 2023, roughly a year later, detectives received an email from the Marion County Crime Lab. A forensic scientist had been able to match a blood swab from the crime scene to Robinson, records state.
Robinson, according to the affidavit, is a registered Marion County sex offender who had applied for and was granted permission to move to Saginaw, Michigan. Detectives arrived in Saginaw a week later with a search warrant to obtain a buccal sample from Robinson.
Investigators say DNA from the bloodstained money, swabs of blood taken from the passenger side of the Traverse, and two other items of evidence were determined to be "at least one trillion times more likely" to originate from Robinson as opposed to an unknown, unrelated individual, records state.
Records recovered from White's cellphone revealed he and Robinson had texted or called one another 27 times in the three days leading up to the fatal stabbing, according to an affidavit. Detectives learned the last phone call White made was to Robinson at 1:31 a.m. on Aug. 21, roughly four hours before he died.
On Dec. 18, 2023, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed an arrest warrant for Robinson with charges of murder and robbery. On Tuesday, the United States Marshals Service working with Indianapolis detectives found Robinson in Saginaw, Michigan, and took him into custody.
No attorney was listed for Robinson before this article's publication.
Anyone with more information about the case is advised to contact Detective Michael Condon with the IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475, or e-mail him at Michael.Condon@indy.gov.
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: DNA in fatal stabbing leads to arrest 1 year later
