INDIANAPOLIS — Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of three people, including a 13-year-old girl, following a series of shootings around Indianapolis over the weekend.
The family of the 13-year-old who died on Villa Avenue said they’re in the dark and they wish somebody would speak up and hold the shooter accountable.
Around 2:45 a.m. Sunday morning, a house party on Villa Avenue in Fountain Square came to a tragic end when a shooting wounded one teenager and left 13-year-old Jasmine Rodriguez dead inside the home.
“Words can’t describe the pain my family is feeling. I wouldn’t wish this on nobody,” said the victim’s brother Alejandro Rodriguez. “She’s got her whole life ahead of her and somebody took it.”
Alejandro Rodriguez said his younger sister loved music and singing. She attended school at Perry Meridian and is remembered as a caring and selfless young woman.
“She always worried about you first before herself. She was the sweetest girl ever. I don’t understand why this happened to her,” said Alejandro.
The family claims the last thing they knew was Jasmine went to a sleepover at a friend’s house. They believe her friend’s father took the pair to the party on Villa without their knowledge.
While dozens of teenage witnesses remained at the scene after the shooting, police have not released any information on a possible suspect.
“We really don’t know anything. We would like someone to speak up,” said Alejandro.
While police wouldn’t confirm how the shooting occurred, there were bullet holes visible on the outside of the house, making it possible the gunshots were fired from the outside.
The shooting on Villa marks the seventh youth homicide in Indianapolis in less than three months this year. On the same date in 2022, there were six youth homicides and there were four on this date in 2021.
Youth homicides have been on the rise in recent years, peaking with 19 deaths for the whole year in 2022.
Regardless of that trend, Jasmine’s family just wants her killer brought to justice.
“You know everybody in this family loves and misses her and we just want to find some answers and see what happened,” said Alejandro. “I hope we can find what happened here because we don’t know anything and my family is hurting.”
No arrest have been made in the homicide.
Neighbors are asked to look at any video they have that may have captured this incident or captured people/vehicles in the area around the time of the incident.
Anyone with information about this incident should call Detective Colten Smith at the IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475 or e-mail the detective at Colten.Smith@indy.gov.
Alternatively, they can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477 or (TIPS) to remain anonymous.
