BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Court documents reveal that a young woman was sitting in the passenger seat next to her boyfriend when a marijuana deal turned deadly and her boyfriend was shot and killed by her side.
On Saturday, the Brownsburg Police Department announced the arrest of 23-year-old Deamonta McIntyre who faces one count of murder after he shot and killed 20-year-old Christian Arciniega in the parking lot of Cardinal Bark Park on Hornaday Road.
Court documents reveal the harrowing scene that left Arciniega’s girlfriend running for her life and banging on nearby houses’ doors in search of help after the shooting.
According to the court documents, Arciniega was contacted by a friend who told him that he knew someone who was looking to buy some marijuana. Arciniega reportedly had several hundred dollars worth of marijuana and agreed to meet up with the interested buyer and sell him several ounces.
What Arciniega didn’t know, however, was that his friend was sending him into a trap.
Court documents reveal that after the marijuana deal turned into a murder, investigators tracked down the friend who connected Arciniega and McIntyre. This supposed friend of Arciniega’s reportedly spoke to police “on his own free will” and admitted to facilitating the robbery. He told investigators the plan was for McIntyre to rob Arciniega and then they’d split the stolen goods.
Arciniega’s girlfriend witnessed the drug deal turned murder firsthand, according to the court documents. She recounted her story to police stating that on Thursday she drove with Arciniega to the Cardinal Bark Park on Hornaday Road in Brownsburg where they pulled into a parking spot at approximately 10:50 p.m. and waited for the buyer to arrive.
McIntyre arrived shortly afterward in a silver Chevrolet Malibu with dark tinted windows that was driven by his girlfriend, 21-year-old Kee Meh.
McIntyre entered Arciniega’s Honda Civic and sat in the rear passenger seat, according to the account of Arciniega’s girlfriend. At one point during the deal, Arciniega turned to show McIntyre the marijuana. This is when McIntyre supposedly pointed a black handgun at Arciniega.
Arciniega’s girlfriend told police she’d heard a tussle as McIntyre attempted to take the bagged marijuana. A gunshot went off near her sounding like an explosion, she told police. Arciniega was trying to get his own gun from the center console while she attempted to pull him out the passenger door, wanting to escape and flee with him.
But once she was out of the car and began to run, she heard Arciniega yell at her to run, followed by another gunshot. The woman told police she turned back, realizing Arciniega wasn’t with her. Not wanting to leave him, she ran back to where he lay half out the passenger door.
McIntyre reportedly pointed a gun at her and told her to be quiet or he’d kill her. The woman said she held Arciniega who was still breathing but barely could keep his eyes open. McIntyre was reportedly frantically searching for Arciniega’s gun, which the woman spotted lying near the passenger tire.
The woman told police she grabbed Arciniega’s gun and hid it under her legs and buttock while on her knees holding Arciniega. She told police she begged for McIntyre to just take Arciniega’s car and leave, the silver Malibu having fled the scene after the first shot was fired.
McIntyre reportedly did just that, driving off in the Civic and running over Arciniega’s arm in the process. After he was gone, the woman told police she took Arciniega’s gun and went running in search of help. She knocked on two or three doors before someone answered and called police.
Police were able to identify McIntyre as the suspect in the robbery-murder and had an officer stationed outside his home where police saw him and Meh enter into her silver Malibu. Officers followed the couple and arrested them in an Applebee’s parking lot.
When questioned by police, McIntyre eventually admitted to being in Arciniega’s vehicle during the robbery but said Arciniega was shot while the two fought over Arciniega’s gun. McIntyre denied having or even owning a gun, according to the court documents. Police were able to locate the black handgun Arciniega’s girlfriend mentioned, however, in a drawer in McIntyre’s oven.
Court documents reveal that a search of Meh’s silver Malibu also revealed a torn piece of the same shopping bag that Arciniega had wrapped the drugs in. A piece of the shopping bag was also in Arciniega’s Civic, stuck around the gear shift.
Both Meh and McIntyre eventually revealed to police where Arciniega’s Civic had been abandoned.
Meh faces a Level 5 felony charge of assisting a criminal for her role in the robbery turned murder.
An autopsy found Arciniega was shot twice during the robbery, one of the bullets striking his lungs and his aorta.
