Two pizza shops fined for not reporting shooting deaths of delivery drivers in Indiana

Two Indiana restaurant employees died in work-related incidents last year — but their workplaces failed to report their deaths, according to the Indiana Department of Labor.

Rico’s Pizza and Luigi’s Pizza, both in Gary, were fined by the state because they did not report the killings within eight hours, which is mandatory through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to the Indiana Department of Labor.

Gary is located around 40 miles southeast of Chicago and has the third-highest murder rate in the country, according to Wisconsin-based Madison.com, citing an FBI report.

Luigi’s was fined $1,500 by the state, while Rico’s was fined $750, the state Department of Labor announced. It’s not clear why the pizzerias were fined different amounts.

Two men have been charged in the alleged murder and robbery of 30-year-old David Shelton, a Luigi’s employee who was killed Nov. 24 of last year, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana. Police say the suspects, Terryante Flournoy and Ciontay Wright, placed a pizza order and shot Shelton when he arrived at the residence, the newspaper reported.

No arrests have been made in the death of 60-year-old Phillip Hearne, a Rico’s employee who died from gunshot wounds Oct. 26, according to the Chicago Sun Times. He “appeared” to have been shot while driving, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

An obituary states Hearne was a church deacon, a father of four daughters and a grandfather to seven.

The pizzerias were fined because both deaths were “work-related incidents,” according to the department of labor.

There were 58 homicides in Gary last year, which was the city’s most since there were 71 in 2007, according to the Associated Press.