Woman, 18, was ambitious go-getter. She's the latest young person killed in Indy violence
When she was 13, Ariel Calhoun got her first job working at Jet’s Pizza in Indianapolis.
The teen always had big ambitions. She was an old soul in a young person’s body, her mother said.
“She never wanted to sit around,” Crystal Conner said. “Her main goal was to make sure I was proud of her. She wanted me to know she would be able to always care for herself.”
Calhoun graduated high school early, at 16, and had become interested in repairing vehicles. She held jobs at repair shops and was about to start a new gig at Belle Tire on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
The 18-year-old also had plans to go to a trade school and learn how to weld. All of Calhoun’s aspirations were stopped short. She is one of more than two dozen teenagers to be shot and killed in Indianapolis this year.
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Police responding to the shooting found Calhoun in the street with gunshot injuries in the 7300 block of Crest Lane on Sunday evening. The young woman was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Investigators have not released updates or announced any arrests in the case as of Tuesday afternoon. Calhoun must have been on her way home when she was killed because the shooting happened one street over from her family’s house on the northeast side of the city, Conner said.
Her daughter loved older music, especially the blues and jazz, and her favorite artists were The O'Jays, The Whispers and Anita Baker, Conner said.
Calhoun was the kind of person who spoke her mind, but never rudely.
“I called her my beautiful, biggest critic because that's the way she was,” Conner said. “I loved that about her.”
Conner doesn’t know why someone would have wanted to hurt her daughter. She’s hoping anyone with information will come forward and help bring closure to their family.
“I hope they have the heart and conscience to call and speak up,” Conner said.
Anyone with information on Calhoun’s killing is asked to contact IMPD detective Jose Torres at 317-327-3475 or Jose.Torres@indy.gov. Those wanting to remain anonymous can also share information with Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.
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Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Ariel Calhoun was ambitious and a go-getter before fatal Indy shooting
