Update (5:38 p.m. on July 11, 2023)
After a two day bench trial, an Indianapolis jury found Kelyn Harris guilty of two counts of “murder” in relation to a 2021 shooting on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
A sentencing hearing for Harris is expected to occur at 1 p.m. on Aug. 10.
Original Story:
INDIANAPOLIS — A 17-year-old is facing two counts of murder following a deadly shooting on Indy’s northeast side.
The double homicide took place inside a crowded gas station at 38th and Mitthoeffer.
The arrest marks the fifth time this year a suspect under the age of 18 has been accused of a homicide in Indianapolis. Prosecutors say in this case, the entire crime was caught on camera.
After stepping out of a gray Ford Fusion with a gun in his pocket, 17-year-old Kelyn Harris pulled a handgun and started shooting inside a Phillips 66 gas station in late May, prosecutors said. The incident was caught on surveillance cameras.
That shooting claimed the lives of two men, 23-year-old Frederick Leon Small and 18-year-old Ezekiel Watkins, and left another man injured.
Court records don’t explain what motivated the teenage suspect, who was a student at Warren Central, to allegedly pull the trigger, but Harris was identified by witnesses on scene. The witness knew the supect because they attended school together.
A second suspect, 20-year-old William Glasper III, is also charged with assisting a criminal for allegedly driving the getaway car.
Because Harris is 17, the murder charge was filed directly in adult court. According to state law, anyone 16 or older accused of murder does not have to be waived over from the juvenile court system.
Harris is being held without bond pending trial. Police say he was tracked down in Texas.
The second suspect, Glasper, was released on a $15,000 bond.
David Gay contributed to this report.
