Trial opens in Hammond drug deal slaying
In opening arguments Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Cole Galloway said the case against Davon Jones was a “cell phone data” and “timeline case.”
Jones, now 20, is accused of killing Amarion Holmes, 20, on April 9, 2022, who was meeting to buy drugs from him in Hammond, court documents allege.
He is charged with two counts of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of armed robbery. He has pleaded not guilty.
Galloway said videos, including one with a man walking to the scene, another with sounds of two gunshots, witnesses, bullet casings, the victim’s clothes and cell phone provided the evidence that backed up their case. Jones took a few selfies before cell phone location data put him walking to the scene before it happened, he said.
He acknowledged there was no DNA.
Holmes was found shot in the head and arm inside his car around 4:30 p.m. in an alley on the 800 block of Drackert Street, Galloway said.
Hammond Police left “no stone unturned,” he said. They “didn’t jump to conclusions” and took a couple of months to charge Jones.
Defense lawyer Amanda Hires, representing Jones with co-counsel Kerry Connor, said Jones should not be convicted on “speculation.”
“Bread crumbs” were not enough.
Witnesses described a “very tall” and “very skinny” male in a black ski mask. Videos were from far away, so distant, it was hard at times to tell the person’s gender or race.
“You will not see Mr. Jones on them,” Hires said.
He only lived a block away from the crime scene. Cell phone location data may put someone in the area, but was not “a pinpoint location,” she said.
Indiana State Police put a “pinpoint” on the crime scene on maps with Jones’ cell phone data based on what investigators told them, she said.
Texts cited between Jones and the victim included “several people” and were “up for grabs” how it should be interpreted.
In brief testimony, Shalonda Evans, Holmes’ mother, said she bought a handgun and holster from Cabela’s in Hammond about a week before.
It was in her son’s trunk when he was killed. She told Connor she declined to get the white Hyundai or what was inside the back.
Hammond Police Officer David Zamora testified he was the second patrolman to arrive at the crime scene. Prosecutors played audio-less body cam footage.
The trial continues Wednesday.
Officers found Holmes slumped over and unresponsive in the driver’s seat of a white Hyundai sedan with a gunshot wound to the head, the affidavit states. He was transported to the University of Chicago where he was pronounced dead at 6 p.m.
Witnesses told police the car was in the alley for minutes when a single gunshot rang out.
From Holmes’ Facebook account, police believed he was there to meet Jones over a drug buy, the affidavit states.
Jones deleted Holmes off his Facebook account five minutes after the shooting and left the next day to stay in Wisconsin for two weeks, charges state. A month later, he deleted his Facebook account.
The trial is before Judge Natalie Bokota. Deputy Prosecutor Jacob Brandewie is Galloway’s co-counsel.
