Prosecutors enter plea deals with two men facing murder charges in South Bend
SOUTH BEND — Two men facing murder charges stemming from unrelated South Bend shootings in 2022 have each entered into plea agreements with prosecutors this month.
John Thomas, 31, and Ralph Richardson, 28, will both plead guilty to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter, court documents say. The sentencing range for manslaughter is 10 to 30 years in prison, compared to 45-65 for murder. Richardson will also see a firearm sentencing enhancement which will add time to his sentence.
The incidents and criminal cases against the two men are separate, though both shootings took place in South Bend in the spring of last year. In April 2022, Richardson was arrested and charged with killing Jamal Smith, 35, on Leland Avenue.
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A few weeks later in May, Thomas shot and killed Eric Johnson, 32, after an argument near the LaSalle Park Homes on the west side of the city. That incident also resulted in the death of 25-year-old Annaliese Matson, who was Thomas' girlfriend and a passenger in his car, though no criminal charges were filed in connection to her death.
Original charges
According to police, Richardson shot Smith several times after the two got into an argument in the 600 block of Leland Avenue around 8:30 p.m. on April 15. Shortly thereafter, he drove to the police department to turn himself in.
The two men got into an argument when Richardson picked up a female friend who lives nearby, and the arguing continued when he dropped her back off at her home, according to court documents. While standing outside his car, Richardson reportedly told police that Smith started approaching him while yelling.
Police say there is video of the encounter.
It shows that Richardson fired at Smith as he was approaching the Mishawaka man's vehicle, and that Richardson shot Smith several more times as he was trying to escape, according to police.
With the firearm sentencing enhancement, Richardson could see anywhere from 15 to 50 years in prison, though both his attorneys and the state will have the chance to argue his sentence at a hearing in March.
Meanwhile, Thomas was charged with murder for a shooting that started on the west side of South Bend but ended on the east side of the St. Joseph River.
Court documents filed in Thomas' case say Thomas and Matson drove to the area of West Jefferson Boulevard and South Wellington Street shortly after midnight on May 14 when Thomas' sister called him to say a woman had been trying to get into her car.
When Thomas and Matson arrived, Thomas got into a argument with Johnson, who court documents say was an acquaintance of Thomas. Shots were fired.
Court documents cited "audio and ballistic evidence" that led investigators to believe Thomas fired at Johnson twice and Johnson fired 10 shots in return. Johnson died at the hospital.
Thomas drove away, but Matson was apparently hit during the exchange because Thomas called 911 some 20 minutes later to report she had sustained a gunshot wound, court documents say.
At the time Thomas called 911, the two were in the 1100 block of Cedar Street, east of downtown, and court documents noted that "between the initial location of gunfire and the 1100 block of Cedar, Thomas would have driven within a few blocks of Memorial Hospital."
Matson died from a single gunshot wound, though it is unclear who fired the shot and no criminal charges have been filed in connection to her death.
According to Thomas' plea agreement, prosecutors will dismiss a pending burglary and battery case against him in exchange for him admitting to the voluntary manslaughter count. Thomas' agreement does not mention a firearm sentencing enhancement.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: State reaches plea deals with two men facing South Bend murder charges
