INDIANAPOLIS — An early morning shooting leaves two women dead on Indy’s northeast side.
The violence took place at the Postbrook East apartment complex near 42nd and Post.
According to one neighbor who witnessed the shooting, one of the victims had just gotten out of her van and was walking across the parking lot to her front door when she was shot and killed.
Police were called to the scene just after midnight and found two women shot to death on the sidewalk.
“Nobody deserves to die in any way, shape or form, especially someone who doesn’t bother nobody,” said Alliyah, who declined to give her last name but said she is the foster sister of one of the victims.
Aaliyah says her foster sister, Patrice Jones, is one of the women who died in the shooting. Jones leaves behind a little boy who turns 1 year old this week.
“My nephew has to grow up without a mom. We have to live the rest of our lives without her,” said Alliyah.
Patrice’s brother released balloons at the scene of her death in her honor.
In the meantime, the second woman who died has been identified as 21-year-old Ashanti Robinson.
“You know, it’s devastating to hear such news,” said Dee Ross.
Less than a half mile away from the victim’s front door, Ross with the Ross Foundation, plans to convert an empty building into a grassroots community center at 42nd and Post by mid-summer.
The goal is to have the center serve as a resource hub that offers mental health and trauma counseling, art and music rooms for youth and much more.
Ross believes investing resources and offering hope to the community is the best way to prevent violence.
“It’s time to take our community out of survival mode and put them into a position to thrive,” said Ross.
For her part, Alliyah just hopes her sister’s death doesn’t go unsolved simply because she lived in a traditionally violent neighborhood.
“She shouldn’t fall victim to where she lived. It’s not where you live, it’s how you live. She didn’t live a lifestyle that should have cost her life,” said Alliyah.
So far, no arrests have been made in the double homicide.
Anyone with information on suspects should contact Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.
Indianapolis City-County Councillor La Keisha Jackson issued the following statement regarding the shooting in District 14:
Once again, residents of Indy’s Far Eastside awoke to the news of firearm fatalities in our District as we learned of two women shot to death at East 40th and Cordell Street. This loss is both heartbreaking and frustrating. I am calling for prayers for the loved ones of these victims, but I am also calling for action. I am calling on anyone with information about this or any violent crime to step up and provide that information to authorities, either directly or through Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS (8477) or 800-222-TIPS (8477).
While local elected leaders continue to work together to strive to address the root causes of violent crime and I continue to personally advocate for additional resources for the community, I want to join with other residents in my District to let the perpetrators of violence know we as a community will not accept any more devastation or tolerate any more violence. There is power in raising our collective voice; let’s use it to send the message that enough is enough.
Councillor La Keisha Jackson
