GREENWOOD, Ind. – A 20-year-old man faces a burglary charge following a marijuana deal that led to a deadly shooting in Greenwood earlier this month.
Investigators said Marcus D. Jones stole a handgun during the May 15 incident at a residence in the 1200 block of O’Dell Lane. Another man, 20-year-old Jerimiah S. Martin, died from multiple gunshot wounds after a 16-year-old told police he’d shot Martin during a drug deal.
The shooting happened around 2:45 p.m. Responding officers found Martin’s body in the upstairs bedroom. They detained the 16-year-old and a woman at the scene.
According to court documents, the woman had arranged a deal to sell marijuana to Jones, with the 16-year-old put in charge of facilitating the exchange. The woman rents the home and the teen sometimes stays there. She was not present during the shooting but said Jones planned to drop off some money he owed her and wanted to buy more marijuana.
What’s not in dispute is that Jones was a few dollars short when he initially arrived at the Greenwood residence to make the purchase, but his account of what happened next differed from what the teen told police.
An AK-47 and a struggle
According to the probable cause affidavit filed on Monday, the 16-year-old initially told police two people barged into the home after knocking on the door. He was playing video games and making lunch at the time, the teen said. He made no mention of the marijuana deal until a follow-up interview, telling police he’d left out the detail because he didn’t want to get in trouble.
The teen said Jones, whom he knew as “Black Boy,” arrived at the home by himself to buy marijuana. Jones was $8 short, however, and left after promising he’d come back with the rest of the money. When Jones returned, he was with Martin. The teen said he heard a knock at the door, couldn’t see through the peephole because he was too short and cracked the door open.
Jones and Martin pushed their way into the home and told him to “give them everything,” the teen claimed. He said Martin kept a gun pointed at his head and ordered him to go upstairs, with Jones leading the way.
Once they made it into the master bedroom, Jones spotted an AK-47 and handed it to Martin, who tried to tuck it into his waistband. But Martin had trouble doing it because he was holding a pistol and set the pistol aside.
The teen grabbed for the handgun and shot at least once at Martin, according to court documents. He told police he was “in fear for his life.” As Jones ran out of the room, Martin charged the teen, punching and kneeing him in the head. The juvenile said he grabbed the AK-47 from Martin and shot him, causing Martin to fall to the ground.
The teen ran downstairs and saw a black Ford speeding away. He called the woman who lives at the home, who instructed him to call 911.
Neighbor’s account provides key details
A neighbor heard the commotion and was able to give police a description of Jones and the license plate number of the vehicle. Greenwood police used the Flock safety camera system to find the car.
The woman told police she “heard several loud banging sounds” and saw a man in a black shirt running down the driveway next door. He was carrying something in his hand and got into a black passenger car with tinted windows before driving away.
She provided investigators with the car’s license plate number and its direction of travel. Information from Flock cameras helped police track the car and its registration.
Indianapolis Metropolitan police eventually initiated a traffic stop at 8:14 p.m., where they found Jones and his girlfriend. They were making DoorDash deliveries, according to court documents.
Jones’ version and a stolen gun
Jones told Greenwood police he’d shown up at the home to buy marijuana. He was a few dollars short, however, and left. He picked up Martin from an apartment complex and returned to the Greenwood address. He said Martin would “sell him some of the money on his food stamp card for some marijuana,” according to court documents.
His account of what happened when they came back differed from what the teen told investigators. Jones said he approached the front door by himself, fully intending for Martin to stay in the car, only for Martin to come up behind him with gun in hand. Jones said Martin told the teen to “give him everything in the house” and forced the two of them upstairs to the master bedroom.
He made no mention of the AK-47, telling police he ran back downstairs as soon as he found an opening and remembered hearing gunshots. He ran to his car and drove off.
Jones later admitted he’d stolen a gun from the master bedroom. Inside Jones’ car—the vehicle was registered to his girlfriend—police recovered a 9mm firearm. The serial number traced back to a gun that disappeared from the Greenwood home during the May 15 incident.
Jones is formally charged with burglary with a deadly weapon. The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office hasn’t commented on if additional charges would be filed in the case.
